We're Connected
by Anzo
Summary: As a kid, a young demon dog had rescued Inuyasha from a burning fire. But in order to save him she had to leave behind his mother to die. In the future they met again. Will Inuyahsa be able to forgive her? Or will Narakus return change things drastically?
1. How it happened

"Izayoi, you traitor!" Some lower voice whispered harshly in the thick humid air. "Traitor, traitor, traitor!" she continued to murmur, her tone growing louder with each word.

"Nachi," Another female spoke, her accent sounding frail. Violent, choking sobs erupted from her throat. The ground vibrated slightly as a thud sliced through the air.

When I opened my eyes to see the scene, the room was ablaze. Smoke surrounded the area and pieces of burning wood and falling fire rained from above. The building was about to collapse. In the lumber I could hear the splinters straining to keep its hold. My eyes enlarged and darted around frantically. The world around me is hazy and that's when I begin to cough. Tendrils of smoke curl around my version as I try and locate the voices speaking just moments ago.

"Inuyasha!" The weak women screamed, "My baby."

"That beast is no babe!" Nachi, the cruel one, shouted. A ringing sounded in my ears.

I shoot to my feet, running around in the burning building, dodging the flaming timber as it plummets to the hot ground under my feet. All of this in search of the two arguing people? Why? Why was I searching for them? I didn't know them. I should be trying to runaway. To save myself. Not risking it for two strangers.

I open my mouth to shout warnings of the fire but no sound comes out. Only hot steaming tears drip down my cheeks. I can't turn around– head toward the exit. My coughs rumble my chest when they break free from my throat. My breathing turns to wheezing and with each desperate gulp for clean air my lungs protest bitterly. But my legs continue to go forward–seeking them.

The long hallways have many flaring doors.

Which one, which one? My head twists and turns at every door. With the place burning as quick as it is I don't have time to kick them open to see if the two people are there.

Just then the house creeks and moans. The atmosphere crackles from being so dry. The noise is frightening and I began to shake. Doors. So many doors. Where are they? Which do I choose? I want to scream and cry out but my lungs burn with a fiery passion, saving the breath I have for breathing the dirty oxygen. I cover my mouth, trying to keep myself safe and close my eyes. I want to go. But I can't. My feet won't let me move. This is my tomb were I will burn to ash.

"Die, witch!" Nachi booms from the room at the very end of the hall.

My eyes snap open and I immediately race down the corridor. With all my might, I smash that entrance open.

But I wish I hadn't. I wish I could erase the scene that haunts me now and replays in my head when I'm alone.

A long dark haired woman stand on her knees. In her left hand she clutches something tight in her fist. It's so fiercely seized that the knuckles in her hands are white. Her elbow is bent, but I see the bloody sword she grips just as firmly in her right hand. And that sharp weapon is pointed directly at the fragile trembling human lady.

"Inuyasha!"

_Inuyasha. Inuyasha. Yasha. Yasha..._

The syllables of that name echo around my head, wrapping itself up in my memory, as a cry from a baby break free. The wail came from an open window where a white haired demon dog lay flat. He squirmed around on the skinny seal and his body was roped around in cord.

"Nooo!" I jumped toward the baby and enfolded him in on my chest. My body rolled around on the ground until it stopped. For some reason I just couldn't let him fall.

A terrible scream came back from the house. And just as I looked up the sword Nachi held pierced through the other petrified female. The cherry blood was like a fountain as it spewed from the tiny women's chest.

"Yes," an evil cackle rang from Nachi. The scratchy guffaw caused me to cringe and squeal.

As soon as the noise escapes from my mouth Nachi's neck whips around in my direction. Her teeth are bared with her eyes slit like a cats. Crimson liquid ran down the corners of her mouth. The hungry/intimidating force of her glare had me shuddering.

I don't know if it was fortunate or not, but the home sheltering the two women crashed down– unfortunate because the bleeding lady was still conscious and maybe, just maybe, she could have got away. The explosion sent me flying. I securely held the small toddler close to my chest as if I were protecting my own heart.

A tree caught my flight and also knocked the air from me. The sweet sanitary oxygen was now fully filling my ravenous lungs. My eyes were now focused on the eagerly panting child.

"Mama," he tearfully spoke in an undertone.

My arms hugged him tightly as he cried. He was telling me he needed to go save her. He craved her affection. She was the only one who understood, he said. Then he looked up at me. On top of my head he reached his small pudgy hands to take hold of my own fiery brown dog ears. He wiggled them in his fingers.

"You're... " he uttered, seeming beyond dazed.

I lightly took his hands in mine. "I'm just like you." I finished, taking one glance at the still blazing structure ahead of us.

My eyes widen and I quickly threw the child away from me, out of danger. So instead of the flaming piece of wood hitting the back of the boys head, it struck me right in the center of my forehead.

The world was black.


	2. Please, Remember me

I take a shaky breath, settling my sobs, and tuck a strand of chipped auburn hair back behind my ear. The evening is chilly and my limbs begin to shake as I hide in a dying bush. I've been around all the rural communities in this area and they've all harassed me. Even though I'm only half demon they see and strike as if I were fully demon. I mean no harm, honestly I don't, but they have no way of knowing that. Still, I want to ask only one simple question. Just one.

It's been years since I've seen Inuyasha. And all that time I was going village to village and asking for him. Every village was the same. They all charged into battle with me, battering my dainty figure. It was all worth it, I guess. While attacking, one always shouted information of the half demon I spoke of. They demanded to know if I were in an alliance with him. But I shook them off without answer and ran for my life to the next place.

This village was no different. I was barely in sight of them when the men from the field began shouting, "Demon, demon!" They were anxiously stumbling away, waving there arms crazily. People automatically responded as if they had practiced this in a drill and were finally performing it. Each grabbed a weapon and came for me. The young and elderly shuffled into hunts while dragging curious children along with them.

I was shaking my head back and forward, "I'm not here to hurt you!" I said calmly every time I was spotted and attacked head on. It's not that I like the beatings from the villagers, I'd rather just have a straightforward conversation and ask what I needed, but there was no other way; I wasn't given the chance of another way out either. But I'd get broken bones for Inuyasha. I missed him so very much.

Now, I just sat on the muddy ground, listening. I could still hear the sound of the residents' picking up their feet in search of me. The sound reminds me of that night with Izayoi and Nachi when I was looking for them. That was the night I met Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha," I uttered, droplets of salt water slipping down my cheeks and falling from my chin.

Suddenly, the bushes above me spread wide. A dark shadow loomed over me.

"I found it!" he shouted, sprinkles of his spit flew over my head and landed on the grass blades.

I angrily slammed my fist down on the mucky earth. My legs stood and I began to run.

"Oh, no you don't!" he yelled. A rope wrapped around my neck. It felt as if it were on fire and I shrieked so loud that Inuyasha could probably hear it.

"Let me go!" I cried, twisting and turning to try and escape. The line tightened it's hold. I coughed. I couldn't breath.

I have to get away. Inuyasha. He's somewhere out there. He's waiting for me.

I claw at the cord. Hopefully my nails will be strong enough to break free.

A hard pound lands on my head. The knuckles in his hands crack. My skull is as hard as anything known to man. For a second he pulls his arm back and curses me for his injury' even though I had nothing to do with it. He was the one that hit me. I sense him shake off his pain and then grabs a hand full of my hair. He tugs at it sharply and I try not to scream because when I do it makes him laugh. He's pulls harder and harder, yanking out locks of my already damaged mane.

"Inuyasha!" I screech his name. Over and over I call, hoping he'll come a save me as I had him years ago. "Inuyasha!"

The male bashing me pulls on the rope. My air is completely caught off.

I can't die. I won't die. I curl my fingers in the dirt, picking up as much as possible, and then I start flinging it back. I dig like a true dog.

"My eyes," the wimp lets go of his hold on me.

I'm off at once. Tears are blurring my eyes so I'm practically blind as I run through the thick forest. My feet are tripping over every possible thing, even each other. But I always catch myself with my hands and push myself off again.

Inuyasha, I'm coming. Inuyasha, I'm here. Wait for me!

"Inuyasha," My voice is broken as I run I try to loosen the rope.

After three days of off and on running, I settle myself high up in a tree. I can't stand to be on ground anymore. Humans are so cruel. The only human I think I might actually have liked would have been Izayoi, Inuyasha's mother. Ground isn't safe anymore, so from now on I will be traveling by tree. Dirt roads and rivers are the only way people can get anywhere. So long as I'm up they can't touch me.

The only time I will land is to talk to the villagers. This time I'll cover my ears. Then they won't know I'm part demon. Won't want to hurt me. What will I use as a hat though? Leaves? Twigs? Muddy dirt?

Below myself four feet walk across the forest ground. I looked down to see a monk and a young woman with a demon cat resting on her shoulder. Lucky for me they were both wearing straw hats to keep the sun off their faces. My lips formed a wicked smile. All I have to do is swoop down and snag the hat right off one of their heads and be on my way. There was no demon aura leaking from them so that means they're human– even better. They stand not even the slightest chance against me. Expect for the cat, maybe. It was so small that it doesn't pose a threat.

When I look keenly at my targets, just to look over my observations before going in, I notice the lady has a very large boomerang strapped onto her backside. The monk also has a staff made of fine wood and metal. Really, there's no way for me to tell what all they can do. I better just go and find...

I clench my fist into tight balls. I can't waste time finding someone else for a disguise. This is for Inuyasha!

I breathe deeply one time then stand tall and fall straight forward.

My body flips in the air and I land on the ground in front of them. I shot my legs forward and towards the man. He grunts at the sudden attack and defends himself by firmly holding the staff in front of him.

I smile, I so got this in the–

The monk swings and hits me dead in the forehead. In the air, I perform a back flip and claw my nails into the ground to slow myself down. With their humans eyes they won't see me race behind them. It'll be as if I vanished from their vision. When I am behind him in lighting speed I spring frontward. I outstretch my fingers, ready to grab the hat when the point of the center of the boomerang knocks me in the back of the neck.

A choking sound comes from my mouth and multiple showers of spit fly from my gaped open lips.

My body crashes agonizingly into the soft leafy earth. I feel the cuts that tattoo my face, they sting. Really bad. But Inuyasha is all I can think about. I need to see him so badly that a pang tears at heart. The way I feel about seeing Inuyasha now is like having to breathe. I feel as if I'm about to die if I don't see him in the next few days. Inuyasha, where are you?

Doubt floods my mind. What if he's purposely avoiding me? What if he doesn't want to see the person who left his mother to die in a burning fire with an evil demon? Or maybe he is looking for me but we're both either going the same direction as each other or going two different ways. We'll never met if it's like that.

"Sango," the monk spoke in a shocked manner. "She's a…"

They both looked at my twitching ears an blinked wildly.

"Half demon," she completed finally with the same amount of amazement.

I growled violently and flew forward again.

How dare they.

This time I soared over the woman's head and pinched the hat right off her noggin. Her feline friend didn't seem to like that very much at all. The next thing I knew a humongous catlike tiger was snarling before me.

Not so tiny now.

I tried to maintain my emotionless expression but I saw the flames whirling around her. Those flames sparked the memory of Nachi stabbing the sword through Izayoi. Her laborious screams ripping from her vocal cords and polluted my brain. Inuyasha's mother's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body twitched as her soul started to leave her body. That's when Nachi's mind shattering cackle rang.

My eyes filled with clear liquid and they sat there in place. I felt myself trembling and my lower lip quivering. I hung my head low and raised a hand to wipe away the rain. I coughed a rocking ribcage cough and fell to my knees.

Numbness spread throughout my being. Fear coursed feverishly in my cells. These humans are going to beat me. I've attacked them and now I will die. I won't see Inuyasha. I would have killed those humans for their hat. It would have been a missing puzzle piece I needed for the mystery of where Inuyasha may be.

"What the hell is going on?" An irritated voice shouted from the shadowy fence of the deep woods. "Can't you two even slay a hundred lame ass demons?"

"Inuyasha…" Another, though much higher, voice warned.

_Wait, what?_ My head snapped so fast in the direct of the name that I felt my thoughts and feelings swim around my head.

From the dark, two figures emerged. One long dark mane of a girl and one silvery head of a half demon.

Immediately, I broke out into a hysterical laugh/sob. I stood on shaky feet and dragged them across the moss ground they were now stepping on. My happiness and joy was overwhelming me to the point were I felt drunk.

My arms were outstretched for him with my fingers opening and closing, waiting for when they can wrap themselves around his red clothing.

With only one steps to go, I tripped on the plant life that got tangled around my ankles. But I didn't care. Inuyasha was here. I found him. Or rather he found me. His face. Oh, his face, I remember that once tears stained face. It was now filled with confusion and wonder.

As I was falling he caught me. For a moment I just lay there. In his arms they were so warm. I hugged him tighter.

"Oh, Inuyasha!" I wailed, nuzzling my face deep in his chest. "I missed you, I missed you," I kissed his poor heart with each repeating of the phrase. "I missed you so much, Inuyasha!"

He pulled me back, gazing at my short floppy puppy ears for a second, and then back into my deep sea green eyes. "Who... Who are you?"

My heart shattered into a million Sacred Jewel Shards.


	3. Down Girl

The fog is thick as bricks as it leaks into the small hunt belonging to Kaede. It is only me in the small home and I shake even with the heavy wool blanket around me. By the way the sun rises I know it's early morning. When I woke Inuyasha was gone but the other humans were still here. I had trembled and screamed so much I caused myself to pass out.

When I woke again I thought it had been a dream. But then Kaede spoke and I flew to the corner furthest from her. I still don't like humans. They were nothing but pure evil. I can see why most demons hate them.

"Keep covered, child." Those were the wise words she had told me.

I didn't obey right away. Instead I stared at the swaying flap door, cautiously watching to see if she'd suddenly turn vile and come at me with a knife.

She had been watching me too and sighed while shaking her head. In that same moment she left me by myself.

This is where I am now and I think aloud, "How does Inuyasha do this? How can he stand to be around those humans all day?"

"Because I'm not a wimp," I heard his ticked off tone as his pushes away the door. He comes to sit across from me. I scoot my way into his lap.

Inuyasha instantly shoves me from him. "Get off me." My eyes fill with salty tears and I turn away so he won't see. After all these years of believing that he hadn't forgotten me, my heart caves in even more when it realizes that he really has no memory of me.

"Oh, my god," A hand roughly reaches out and jerks me back to where I am facing Inuyasha.

"What?" I bark at him as the tears leap from my eyes. "What could you possibly want from me now, Inuyasha?"

I think the sudden rise in my voice stuns him. But I was beyond pleasing him, at the moment. How could he not remember the one who had once saved his life from the witch Nachi? How? How do you not remember someone saving you period?

"Look," he said, getting in my face. I could see the irritated vein throbbing in the right corner of his forehead. I lean forward, giving him my own evil glare. "I don't know what your problem is but I don't like the attitude you're giving me."

"And I don't like the fact that you're an idiot!" I yell, shoving his shoulders away from me.

I wrap the blanket more firmly around me and twist away with a stubborn "Hmpf." Although I couldn't help but smile a little when he became even more annoyed.

"I am not stupid!" He raged. A hard fist lands on my head.

"Ow!" I burst out dramatically, placing my hands on the forming bump. A growl rips from my mouth. Never in a million years have I thought about using that noise against Inuyasha. But he was being so... off. This is not the little boy I remember. The one clinging in my arms. But then again I have only known him from the night I saved him. I can't believe I've only realized now that I really have no connection to Inuyasha at all. He was a child, maybe four or five, and he knew me for only minutes. How can I expect him to remember who I am?

All these years I have been fantasying about what I thought Inuyasha to be– that he grew up to be a fine boy who was now searching for the one who had been the reason he was still living. But I see now that that was wishful thinking.

My eyes shift to Inuyasha's face. He was still locked on my form gazing all over me. I guess I should have thought it creepy but I felt nothing. Not anymore.

I suck in a wide breath and exhale with a sigh. "I'm sorry."

"Hm?" Inuyasha seemed side-tracked. "For what?" Already he's forgotten what we were _just _talking about. "Where'd you get those scars and bruises?"

I'll admit this caught me off guard. "Um," I hesitate. He's a half demon like me. He should understand if I tell him. "When I was looking for you I had to go from village to village, asking if they knew your whereabouts. None of them liked me too much so they beat me until I ran. Sometimes they even sent search parties to follow and try and kill me." I pause, pulling at the wool mantle which now seemed too snug on my body. "With humans you get in trouble for being half demon, and with demons you're hated for being part human. Although I guess you've figured that out already."

During the middle of my explanation, Inuyasha reaches out to tugged on the rope that wrapped my neck. It set blaze to my skin so I push his hand away. Obviously he hadn't been paying attention to a word I said.

"It won't come off," The prickles on it were still flaming. I dip a finger inside to try and loosen it. Instead my finger burns along with it so I pull it out. "I've tried." "Maybe Kaede can do something about it." He suggests.

My eyes went wide with terror. "Not a human!" I wail, pulling at my fried hair.

"Stop that," he viciously snatches my hands in his and pulls them from my hair. "Kaede is a nice human. She won't hurt you." "There is no such thing as a nice human, Inuyasha."

"Yeah, well, I thought that too for a time.""What made you change your mind?" Really, I don't care but I'm curious.

A young human girl in strange clothing enters the hut. Once again another severe growl broke from my throat. Her eyes grow large; she stumbles back.

She spoke in a strained voice. "Inuyasha, is she safe to be around?" I let my head drop to were it is resting on my knees. If she is a friend of Inuyasha's I do not want to harm her, fearing that he will hate me for it. "I'll be good." I utter. "I'll be good for you, Inuyasha."

Her footsteps come closer and I sink back into the wall.

Very slowly and gently she places her hand on my shoulder.

Considering she's hanging around Inuyasha she has to be nice. Nonetheless, I flinch by her touch. "I'm Kagome, you don't have a reason to be afraid."

I shake my head, eyes gazing up from my lowered head, and my lower lip quivering. "Don't touch me."

Her face seems to crack a little by my words. But I was more terrified than anything. I wasn't able to feel sorry or bad for her. She is just like all the other humans. If I make one wrong move she'll beat me. Would Inuyasha let her do that?

I squeeze my eyes shut, "Inuyasha, make her stop."

"She's not doing anything to you."

"Tell her to get her hands off me." My voice was now all out shaking. Sobs rack my body and I lean toward the floor.

Splinters of woods scrap against my skin, Kagome's hand falls. I can't be like Inuyasha. Humans grant me nothing but pain. Unlike him, I can't seem to be collected around a human being. I already feel valuable with this blanket trapping me but if I let it go I'll freeze. So long as Inuyasha's here I'll be safe, I guess. Even if he doesn't remember me he can't just sit there and let someone like himself hurt me, right?

"Can I ask for your name?" Kagome wonders.

"Tanaka," I reply emotionlessly.

"Tanaka, can you raise for me?"

I obey her command with a shaky form and close eyes. I take deep breathe. If Inuyasha can trust her then I can try. Even if I don't exactly like her I'll stick close to Inuyasha just in case she tries to pull something.

_Tanaka, you can do this. _

Cool round beads were laid on the back of my neck. They hung like a necklace. I open my eyes to take a look, smiling. She's already given me a present and I don't even know her yet! Maybe… just maybe, she actually is good.

"Kagome–" Inuyasha began to say in a warning tone.

"Down girl," she mumbles almost reluctantly.

"Wha–?"

The next thing I know the wooden floor jumps at my face. The ground broke and I land on rocky earth. Quickly, I raise and gaze up at Kagome through the shattered floor. She gazes at me with apology.

"Why the heck did you go and do that for?" Inuyasha screams.

Reaching my hands up, I grab the jagged edges of the remaining floor and haul myself up.

"I knew it," I whisper and race out the flap door. Tears were already leaking down my face.


	4. Bone Eaters Well

The fox demon traveling with Inuyasha, who I learned to be Shippo, saw me sitting under a shaded tree near Bone Eaters Well. I twirl grass between the tips of my fingers as I pretend to listen to his comfort speech. This in no possible way helps to erase the pain beating in my heart. Every thought of Inuyasha has it racing at a quick rhythm. I place a hand over the chest area of my torn shirt, as if to reassure my own emotions.

Besides Inuyasha, I have to worry about this bothersome necklace Kagome bestowed around my neck. Every time I try to remove it, it conducts this weird shriek kind of noise and refuses to come off. Luckily, Shippo used his Fox Fire to rid the fiery rope taping my neck. Although I still have the burns it left that will probably never fade.

Shippo was still in the middle of speaking when we heard the sound of shoes tapping into the earth. Automatically, I sprang and began to crouch– ready to kill. Something in the air smells off. Snarls rumble from deep within my chest as I see it is Kagome who is the one emerging from the depths of the woods. She carries a bottle of three Jewel Shards in her right hand and a bag on her back. No weapons are displayed.

The glow of the shards burn brightly. I can see its scent traveling over to me and I know now that that is what I was smelling just moments ago. The reason for wanting to kill was so I could take the shards. In the past when I came across a weaker demon who possessed the jewel I've always wished them dead. The Jewel has never interest me, nor do I ever think it will, but anything retaining a thing like that must die.

While in thought, I hadn't noticed Kagome moving toward me. She's no farther than two feet when I flee. It shocks me greatly to know that she reacts so fast, Kagome is a human after all.

Anxious to find something to grab, it feels as if Kagome has shoved her right fist into my heart with a great amount of force- as if she has punched me. I feel the ache and hear the ringing of my ears. The cords in my voice box vibrate vigorously as I scream. When my heart pulses against my chest the air in my lungs freeze. My breath skips. My body trembles. What's happening? -x-


	5. The Dark Ripples of Sound

*Sorry if Inuyasha sounds out of character. I'm just trying to make him more open to Tanaka because she is a half demon like him so I want him to be able to talk to her truthfully. If you see any mistakes, please let me know and I'll fix it because this is my biggest post so far. Thank ya!(:*

Outside, the rain pours in sheets. Threads of sliver line the clear window, being pushed down by the force of gravity. Kagome seats herself at a desk in front of me. Due to my fright of humans she has to be at a safe distance where I can watch her. The scraping of her pencil on paper is the only noise filling the room, besides the heavy rain. The lightening brightens the darkening sky. Thunder rumbles the clouds. All of this is pretty frightening and it makes me wish that there were someone, like Inuyasha, that could be here to hold me.

"Tanaka?" Kagome says my name softly.

My voice is a shaky undertone. "Yes?"

"If you're cold you can–"

I shake my head. "I'm not cold."

Her eyes, I feel, crawl over my face. The emotions inside me are uneasy, which I am sure she sees. After what I've experienced with her kind I feel threatened with her just staring at me. Being in a room with her alone is a survival on its own.

Kagome's chair squeaks as she rotates towards me. "Are you scared?"

"I'm fine."

She is quiet.

I duck under the thick blankets. I've had enough of her fake concerned watch. I'm tired of being here. I want to go back to Inuyasha! Where it is safe. Why has Kagome taken me here? What does she want with me?

I peek at Kagome from under the sheet. "Take me back."

She shakes her head, "We're not leaving in this storm."

I throw the blankets away from me. "I told you to take me back!" I scream. "You have no right to keep me here, wench!"

Perhaps that is not the correct language I should be speaking toward Kagome, considering the cruel blood she carries she could lash out at me any moment. I'm sure Inuyasha's never kidnapped her so why does she feel the need to treat me so?

"Do you feel superior because I am smaller than you, that I take the shape of a tiny child? Is that it?"

"No, you have it wrong. I—"

Kagome's feet stand. She begins walking towards me with her hands outstretched. Her cool fingers wrap around my own. My eyes go wide.

"Let me go," I whisper. "Let me go… let me go…" I start tugging my hands free but her grip is firm. "Let me go, let me go, let me go." My tone grows louder and louder. "LET ME GO!" The noise echoes around the room.

I see the dark ripples of the sound waves coming from my voice. They blast against Kagome, she goes flying. Her body slams against the rolling chair and into the desk behind her. The books and other things on the shelves rattle. She reaches out to me with her limp hand. Her eyes droop a couple times before they close completely. And if it weren't for the rise and fall of her chest I would have thought her dead.

Looking down at my lower body, I see it trembling uncontrollably. I curl into a ball and clutch my head, laying back down on the bed— confused.

What did I just do? How did I do it? All I know is that Kagome was grabbing at me. I was terrified, I still am. I had know idea of what her intentions were— are.

"I don't understand." I cry.

"Oh, my." The new voice causes me to freeze.

I don't even have to look up to know it's a human. Their scent instantly fills the room.

Quickly, I raise, ready to run if necessary. In the doorway is a woman with a hand over her mouth. She rushes to Kagome, feeling her forehead, her cheeks, arms.

"What happened?" Now her eyes are on me, filling with tears.

I say nothing and back away. My nails claw at the wall and I squeeze my eyes shut. I wish they would all go away. A hand is placed on my shoulder. I scream, opening my eyes to find the woman in my face. I roughly push her away.

"D-don't you touch me." I stutter.

"Tell me what happen to my daughter!" she begs. "What's wrong with her? Who are you? What have you done?"

I pound my fist against my head. "No, no, no. I didn't do anything! S-she was… she was…"

"What going on in here?" Immediately, I bounce up. "Inuyasha!"

He catches me as I land in his arms. "What's the matter with Kagome?"

"I don't know," I sob into his red clothing.

"You're getting snot all over me," he murmurs but does not push me away. "What happened?"

"S-she was trying to hurt me, Inuyasha."

"What?"

"That doesn't sound like Kagome at all." Her mom comments, the sound of her voice makes me flinch.

I ignore her. "P-please take me away Inuyasha. I am so scared."

He bows his head and I feel his hand rubbing my back. This eases my fears. "Climb on my back." he tells me softly.

-x-

Inuyasha holds me now, something I've always dreamed— something I did for him long ago. We are back at Kaede's hut with a crackling fire going to keep us warm from the raging storm. Kagome is awake now, leaning against the wall. A thin blanket is laid across the lower half of her body and she sips some herbal tea made by Kaede. She remembers nothing of our incident and offers me the chance to tell it. The pressure of all the human gazes on me is uncomfortable so I just bury my head deep in Inuyasha's chest.

Again, he comforts me by stroking the top of my head. My ears wiggle under his touch when he rubs them between his fingers. The feel of his nails scraping against them raise goose bumps along my bare arms and legs. Someone, who I think was a human, gently places a blanket over us.

"Why?" I yawn with my question directed to Inuyasha.

He answers me tenderly, "Why what?"

"You're being so much nicer to me than you were before. Why?"

Inuyasha lowers his head to one of my ears so that only I can hear. His words mix together. I cannot understand. Sleep is pleading for me; so I skip into the haze of it.

-x-

Somehow, Inuyasha automatically knows that I am up.

Droplets from the earlier rain drip silently from the slanting wildlife. The smell of the after storm is very strong in this area.

"I had a childhood like yours."

Even though I have just awakened, I'm fully focused on the sound of Inuyasha. His voice so far away, as if he's picturing everything he's telling me.

"I was treated so differently than the other village kids. And I was still a kid, so at first I didn't know why. When I would go join a game I remember all the other kids leaving. Their parents didn't want me near them. My mother even got strange stares, all because of me.

"I hate my brother, but I just wish he would respect me. Long ago, when I was little, I remember thinking what it would be like it if he just stood around and acknowledge me. Or at least smile my way every now and then."

I notice Inuyasha holds me close in a high tree. I press tightly on the space where his heart should be, as if I can fill the aching with my understanding. Because I do understand how he feels. I don't have sibling to bicker with or parents to shame but I know the harsh treatment of being a half demon.

"Do you still have those thoughts Inuyasha?" I ask him sensitively.

"About what?"

"Having those lost moments with you brother?"

"Of course," the answer is automatic. "I want him to treat me as his equal… but bonding with… I don't know. It'd be awkward."

When I gaze up to look in his eyes I see he's picturing it. A smile casts upon his lips. "Yeah, it's pretty weird."

I smile just because he is. "Do you ever talk about this with any humans, Inuyasha?"

The question makes me regret asking. The smile he had fades. "No."

"Why?" Although I already know his answer.

"They wouldn't understand."

"As I thought," I nod. "Only because they likely were accepted among the people they were around."

Inuyasha nods with me.

"So what happened to Kagome? She worried me for a minute."

I scowl. "Why on earth would she do something like that?" She is not what I want talk about.

"Because she's my friend!" Inuyasha practically yells, I glance up to see his eyes on the forest ahead. A small shade of red colors his cheeks. "And I care about her."

The rumble in my throat is hearable but Inuyasha does nothing to let me know he's heard. "I really don't get it, how can you care about something so mean?"

"If you warm up to them you'll see that they're not—"

"Do you see what they have done to me!" I cry, pointing at the burn marks on my neck. The bruises on my arms and legs. The scratches on my feet from were I had to run from them through the ruthless woods.

"But my friends aren't like the one's who've hurt you." In the moonlight, Inuyasha's eyes are shining with truth. They plead for me to understand. "You know I know what you've been through. If they were anything like what you've seen do you think I would be around them? Hell, if it weren't for them I wouldn't be like I am now. I'd act like those human's who have hurt you so much."

"Impossible."

"You don't even know me."

I lower my eyes, knowing it's true. "But I know what its been like for you."

"When I was a child."

"No, by not having anyone like yourself to listen or understand how you truly feel."

"If I wanted that I could have gone to Shippo."

"But he's fully demon. There's no way that he could comprehend what you had to go through. Plus, he is a child himself."

"Isolation is the emotional pain I went through. You've suffered beatings— physical pain. How in the world do you think you can _really _know what it was like for me."

Tears are running down my cheeks and I cover my eyes with the palms of my hands. "Because it is a whole lot nicer than what I went through, but pain is pain. Inuyasha, I didn't have to receive those whippings. I could have avoided them. But if I ran I wouldn't have been able to search for you. They gave me leads of where you were. I did that all for you! So don't be mad at me. I'm sorry if I upset you. I- I just wanted to see you so much!"

I have no idea how my story went to an apology, but it doesn't matter. Inuyasha just holds me all the more tighter. He doesn't say anything and I am grateful. Speaking at the moment doesn't seem possible for me. Another reason for his quiet could be because approaching footsteps draw near. There are quiet voices among them, one's I recognized to be Inuyasha's _friends._

Jumping from the tall tree, Inuyasha carries me. I rest my head on his shoulders, my arms limp at my sides, and we travel in the direction of his companions.

"Is Tanaka asleep?" The monk wonders.

"No," Inuyasha answers bluntly.

"What were you talking about?" Shippo hops on the opposite shoulder of Inuyasha.

"I think that's none of your business."

"Gee, Inuyasha, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, okay? Just keep your nose out of our issue."

"_Our?" _

The eyes of all the people in the group go to me. The weight of it makes me bury my head in the crook of Inuyasha's neck.

"Anyway," the demon slayer breaks in finally. "Kagome's regained some of her memory."

"Oh, yeah?" Inuyasha responds. "What'd she say?"

"Something apparently happened to Tanaka."

My ears wag at the hearing of my name. I raise my head with confidence. "What?" The courage to speak to a human does not fail me.

They all blink at me in shock. Inuyasha smiles at me, I can see that from the corner of my eye.

"She said…" she stumbles for the words. "She said that she somehow fused the Jewel Shards into Tanaka's heart."

-x-


	6. I Swear

"This is not good," the monks forehead is creased with something I read as frustration.

"What are you talking about Miroku?" Shippo sits near the fire as his instant noodles boil.

Instant noodles is something Kagome invented. I find it absolutely fascinating. I sit next to Shippo and watch the bubbles form and pop. Inuyasha sits by fragile Kagome, but his eyes are on me. They carry worry and I try to give him my best smile— wanting him know that I'm happy with him just finally being with me. He's given me a place to stay where the comfort of him is everywhere. Which is the truth. If it weren't for Inuyasha I wouldn't be here among the humans (I'd be out searching for him). Even though full demon Shippo is only a foot away he's too small to do anything to protect me. Therefore, he does not compare to the safety I feel when around Inuyasha.

When I turn back to watch Shippo take his noodles from the fire, blowing first before digging into it with his chopsticks, I place a hand over my heart. The Shards pulse as a response. What Kagome said about their new location is true. This does not bother me, however. Not really. If you pull the collar of my shirt away from my neck and peer down at my chest you can see the pink glow of the Jewels; although I have not shared this with anyone.

I crawl back and over to where I am sitting the half demon exactly like myself. "Inuyasha?" I say his name as smooth as a feather is to skin, facing him.

"Yeah, what?" He fixes his gaze on me with curiosity playing his eyes.

"Look!"

Kagome and Inuyasha's eyes go so wide I'm afraid that they'll fall out of their sockets and splatter to the floor. Red is the immediate new shade of their faces. Inuyasha's hand comes down fast on my arm to push it and my shirt down.

"Tanaka," Kagome's voice takes a sharp edge. Now it's time for my eyes to enlarge with alarm. I tense in preparation of her beatings against me. "What are you doing?"

"Do not," Inuyasha shakes his head, his tone is so much more gentler. "Do that again."

I cock my head to the side, "But why? I'm only showing you what the Jewels are doing to my skin."

Apparently my action was not appropriate and I dare not look at the other stares I'm surely getting. Thankfully, Shippo steps in, whether to save me or not, I am grateful when he asks the monk to continue.

"You all remember the Dark Priestess Tsubaki, correct?"

Kagome is touching her neck while nodding at Miroku like the others.

Inuyasha asks, to clarify, "She was the witch who cursed Kagome with the Shards, right?"

"Yes," Kagome almost hisses the word. Strange, I've never heard a human sound so demonic.

"And she used it to possess Kagome in attempt to kill Inuyasha." Sango, the demon slayer, adds. Kilala growls at her side.

"Thankfully she didn't." Shippo inserts. "Or else Kagome would be infuriated with us for throwing a celebration."

My voice cracks on the words I try to force through my closing throat. Shippo's joke is none to funny and I pay no attention to the irritated response Inuyasha gives.

"What? How could you?" I glare at Kagome through glassy eyes. Her eyes look so round and juicy that it makes me picture clawing them out of her easy-to-break skull, her blood raining from the two sockets like a gruesome waterfall.

"Calm down," Inuyasha lays a hand on top of my head. I look up at him with my eyes softening. His eyes are a deepening golden color with the crackling fire that burns to protect us from the chill. And like it they are warm and inviting.

I curl up into his lap, but am still shooting daggers at Kagome, while also continuing to listen to the story told by the monk.

"I still don't get what this has to do with anything." Inuyasha's annoyance leaks into his voice.

"Think of Tanaka Inuyasha!" Miroku says harshly to him. Even though his anger is not directed at me, I still feel like a child being scolded. "Kagome had the Shards invented in her neck. Tanaka holds them in her heart. Tsubaki had the rest of the Jewels merged as one. And who was the one who had given her such a thing? The one who holds the rest of the Sacred Jewel Shards as a whole now?"

Everyone echoes in union, "Naraku."

From the outside comes an eerie wind. You can hear the trees "Ssh-ing". The flapping door waves violently in the empty air. I bunch up Inuyasha's clothing in my hands, you can hear the strain of it wanting to tear so badly. Though I have no clue as to what they are speaking of, the expression of each of their faces is all the same— ghostly pale stricken with shock and terror.

As I begin to speak my voice shakes just as much as my body. "I don't understand. Please–"

He slams his fist down on the floor, it dents the wood and splinters of it splash into the air. The action causes me to yelp. "Are you saying that if Naraku finds out about the Shards being in Tanaka he'll use her against us?"

"Or just kill her to get want he wants." Kagome mutters.

I look Kagome in her bottomless brown eyes with a fury of hatred. "You want me dead." I speak to her in snarl.

Before anymore is said, Inuyasha folds me into his chest. I don't want fight, knowing I can't win against him, but try anyway. I push at his arms and tear at his stomach. Even as he lowers his forehead to the top of my own I do not stop.

After a minute or two I give up my struggle and settle for a soft, silent cry. "I can_not_ be separated from you again." I keep my voice low so that only he may hear.

I've never known what it was that made me desire the presence of Inuyasha. Finding him was an endless wish. All I know is that in the past, after a long day with no hearings of him, that is what kept me up at night. It did funny things to my mind like alcohol to a mortal. It reminded me of the nights with Nachi and Izayoi. How Nachi stabbed her and the spray of crimson went everywhere— Inuyasha witnessed this as a toddler yet strangely does not remember.

"She's only saying possibilities." Inuyasha mirrors my hushed tone. "It's clear you've never seen or heard of the Naraku." I shake my head to confirm. "And he _will _kill you right on the spot if you give him the chance."

I try to rise myself and look at him but Inuyasha locks up. Moving is impossible.

"I won't give him that chance, Inuyasha. I swear."


	7. Shielding a Secret

The next three days seem everlasting. Feeble Kagome was weak in the knees and during that time and she made everyone wait at Kaede's miserable hut. Fortunately, Inuyasha took me outside and we sat on top of the small home. We chatted there, our voices no louder than a simple breeze, and I realized that it felt really good to finally talk to him, face-to-face instead of in my dreams. Then later he took me to the gravesite of the High Priestess Kikyo and told me their story. He tells me that she walks among us now, even after he's made it real clear that she had died long ago. And when I ask how that was possible he answered truthfully. It's amazing.

"So why don't you go find her?" I questioned him once we started descending the stone steps.

"Things aren't the way they used to be." Is all he says.

I blame Kagome. A feeling is just mentally pointing fingers her way.

We leave at the first sight of dawn a day later.

As we travel down the dirt path, Kagome runs to catch up, legs slightly trembling. She probably isn't fully recovered. Eventually, she reaches us, bending over with her hands on her knees— breathing heavily.

"What took you so long?" Inuyasha asks her, walking to stand in front of Kagome with me on his shoulders.

"I left… Kaede…a…note." She is barely able to pant her way through the words. "Oh, my god."

"What for?"

"Just so she… doesn't worry…"

"Kagome?"

She raises her head at the sudden change of tone in Inuyasha voice. It's very straightforward, being firm for what he's about to say. "Mm?"

"You really need to workout more. You've been dangling on my back for so long that you're out of shape."

Kagome suddenly straightens her back, cheeks red from running, or embarrassed by Inuyasha's comment, I don't know, and causally walks by without a word. Except I do see the rage as she passes my way. Inuyasha I do not think saw this angry sideways glance, and if he did he did not remark. But as Kagome keeps going, the wind picks up and slowly the look disappears. Another expression I cannot read marks her human features now that she is approaching Sango and Miroku.

Inuyasha's head slightly titles to the side. "What is her problem?"

"Sssh," I cover his mouth and put a hand on the side of his head to straighten it up, "I don't care."

-x-

Traveling alongside Inuyasha is very boring. Boring because every two hours or so the humans are complaining for a break. I hopped off Inuyasha's back hours ago, flipping, jumping, twirling, skipping, running, and still am not tired.

I sit on a rock with Inuyasha and the others not to far away. They relax by a calm flowing river, drinking their hearts until content. They also have a snack break. Inuyasha eats little, a bag of what Shippo tells me is potato chips. I dare not try one for it came from Kagome, a human. A human who wants me gone.

"Why aren't you eating?" Shippo wonders as he takes the lumpy seat next to me. "I mean, I know you're not used to humans yet but the food is safe to eat. It's not poisonous." When I don't look convinced he adds, "Inuyasha's eating it."

"…True," I stare only at the sky, wishing that I could fly leisurely like a cloud just until this small party is over. "But I don't eat things like that anyway."

"Really?" I nod. "What do you do for food?"

"I hunt," I face his confused facial appearance. "I hunt demons or other furless animals." Shippo still shows puzzlement. "And after I've killed them I peel away their skin and eat it."

Shippo shivers and turns away from me. "That's a little scary, Tanaka."

I shrug, "It's how I live."

"What happens if you eat normal food?"

I smile in just the smallest way. "Is what I eat considered not normal then?"

Shippo reflects one back, "Compared to what I eat, no."

I'm not sure why but his little comments make me laugh. It's the first time in a long time that I have heard the noise and it's actually nice to do it again. It makes me feel lighter inside as it subsides. Happier thoughts enter my mind. _My soul it feels as if it could shoot out from my body _at any moment.

I lean back on the palms of my hands, "It just feels great, you know?"

-x-

Later that day, when the sun is about to set, we come upon a village. Men in the fields are finishing up work. Children are being ushered inside by guardians. Everything seems to be shutting down for the night as we approach the seemingly head house— where the princess and her father live.

In the distance, when this place was only a black speck on the horizon, a dark aura seemed to loom over the community. The clouds hanging there were dangling lower than normal. They were darker, a purplish color, and faintly swirling as if it were about to form a tornado.

As we come to the palace, we all wait aloof while the monk goes to the guards near the entrance.

I dance my way over to Inuyasha and tug on his long sleeve. "What is the monk doing?"

"He's working magic, Tanaka." I love the way he says my name.

"I didn't think he possessed such a thing."

"It's a figure of speech."

"So what did you really mean?"

"It means Miroku is going to lie about a fake exorcism so we have a place to sleep besides the fridge forest." the demon slayer answers.

I only take a glance at her, then lean against Inuyasha and close my eyes.

"Ugh!" Kagome groans loudly. I don't notice until her hot breath is heating my face that she has come after me. She grabs my tattered shirt, pulling me closer. "_What _is wrong with you? Tanaka, you let Inuyasha and Shippo talk to you but when Miroku, Sango, or myself do you simply ignore us." Her eyes turn begging and soften a bit more. "We're not going to hurt you. Why can't you understand that?"

"Let go of me," is all _can _I say to her through gritted teeth.

The snapping of electricity is heard before seen by me. And when I do it's a crackling light blue energy forming around Kagome's grasping hand wrapped in my clothing. She instantly pulls away and is shocked in the process. With all of us looking at her hand we see the black marks it leaves behind. The smoke rising from the damage. The redden of her burning limb. The tears falling from her eyes.

"_Are you stupid?"_

"But Inuyasha I—" When I gaze up with apologetic eyes, ready to tell him that I didn't mean to, unsure how I did it, he's not looking at me, but Kagome.

"Inuyasha, did… did you not see what she did? She… she electrocuted me!"

"And she's made it clear that she doesn't like you!" He exclaims angrily. "Going through what she had to means that you're a threat, Kagome. So why the hell would you put your hands on her? Anyone like those who have wronged you are your enemies. But of course you wouldn't know about any of that." he spits angrily while pulling me to his side. "You've been an angel in everyone's life so it would only make since that you're so ignorant."

Kagome now balls her hands into shaky fist. She lowers her head.

"SIT DOWN!" She thrashes her head upward the same moment me and Inuyasha plummet to the ground.

Ten head-pounding minutes later, the monk returns with news. He says that the princess has not agreed on allowing us entrance but wants to come to see if we are worthy enough to stay at her home.

_Good Lord… _I roll my eyes at the stupidity of this respected human.

When the princess finally emerges from the entry, she is dressed in a brightly colored flowing robe. In contrast was her swaying midnight black hair groomed and caged into a golden headdress. From head to toe, her body was raining in jewelry. Pearls, silver, gold, you name it, she wore it.

The princess holds her head high, peering down at us through her slit eyes. "Young travelers," she says with her voice so elegant. "You wish to stay in my home, do you not?"

One at a time she observes our movements very closely. Eyeing our actions and weaponry. It only takes a second for her to skim over Kagome and her arrows, the monk and his staff, the demon slayer with the large boomerang and Kilala, then Shippo's bare arms. But when her eyes land on Inuyasha they lighten up in interest.

"Even though half, it is rare that I see a demon roaming with humans." Then she spots me and her expression takes on a whole new lead. "Even more infrequent to have two." The princess now nods her head with her eyes closed.

How in the world did she know that Inuyasha and I are half demons?

She flashes her striking violet seers open. "You may stay but I must accompany this young half-breed if only for tonight." Then she meets Inuyasha gaze as if he's the leader of the pack and will allow her permission. Which I guess he is. "Unless you intend to be a guest for a longer period of time?" she says this as if offering.

"We'll stay for _only _tonight," Inuyasha's arms are crossed and he stares up at the princess from a lowered head. In his eyes is an untold answer. He glances at me and I know that he is looking out for my wellbeing. Inuyasha knows this princess is a human— whom we do not know.

Of course I shake my head and move into the safety behind Inuyasha. I curl my fingers in the loose pants of his kimono.

The feet of the princess carry herself over to me. She squats and attempts to loosen the grip I hold. My fingers are not about to let go and when she realizes this she gently folds her arms across her knees.

"I am Princess Meehann." Ever so tenderly, Meehann brushes her graceful fingertips along my cheek bone. "My, you are so filthy." The dirt smeared on her fingers is pitch black. "Dear, may I ask when was the last time you bathed?"

I do nothing but glare her way. To be honest, I cannot remember the last I took a dip in the river. But I cannot say this out loud. Inuyasha surly would not want a dirty girl. Even if it would have only taken a minute or two, something as little as that would definitely make Inuyasha question my decency.

I hear the sigh of Inuyasha and then I feel the lifting of my small body.

Inuyasha holds the back of my shirt and he twists it so that I rotate to face him. "I'll be happy when you get that muck off you. I was getting tired of seeing you looking like that." My face blushes red at the fact that he noticed long before I knew he did.

Princess Meehann straightened her linen dressing gown as she rose from the dusty ground. "May I hold your hand?"

I felt all eyes on me and I wasn't sure what to do. I can't go with her. She's human! Evil roots run through her veins. When no one is looking she could toss me out to the blood-lusting villagers. I'm feverishly shaking my head back and forth. It's so quick my thoughts and emotions are swimming. My legs wobble forward from the dizziness that overrides my body and I stumble into the arms of the princess.

She kindly smiles down at me when I gaze at her through thick bangs. I guess Inuyasha took this as a sign of bravery, when it actually happened by complete accident, for he shuffled my already untamed hair with the smallest grin on his lips.

The princess begins walking with me grudgingly in tow. "What is your name, half-breed?"

"Don't you dare call me that!" I spit with razor sharp eyes cutting into her astonished ones. "I don't care what roll you play in this village, I do not want to be called anything other than Tanaka."

"Your request is well understood."

As we walk by, the guards standing their posts give questioning eyes to their princess. Meehann stares forward, not minding them in the least, and tugging me along when I start to resist. Unlike the outside of the palace, the work inside here is still full of things to do. You have men constructing on parts of the home. Maids and servants rushing in and out, carrying the duties they have along with them. Or you have, I suppose are, royals coming out for a night picnic.

And then, a dark grey liquid is being poured into a large basin. This catches my attention. About four or five men and maids stand around as they watch the sparkling water being dropped.

"What is that?" Someone, probably at a higher rank than they, angrily slides a side door open. She's an older women with wrinkles lining her face and she screams in an unsightly way. All at once the people scatter, except the one pouring out the mysterious fluid. He stays until his job is finished.

Quickly, the princess pulls me to her other side. "Oh, nothing." She tries to shield me away once I peek around her.

"If it was really nothing," I look at her with rounding eyes, "then you wouldn't be trying to hide it from me."

She doesn't respond. The princess only quickens her paces to where I am practically running to keep up.

-x-


	8. Ways of Eating

*Okay, another short upload. Hooray! This is the last chapter I have on Mircosoft Word so it may take some time before I have another chapter uploaded. 'Cause 5 pages is only about two thosand something words on here so I'm going to try to have ten more pages to make three so it'll be super long! And I'm not out of surprises yet so keep reading, please! Kay, thanks, enjoooy! Helpful advise would be loved too(:*

A steaming hot fest is prepared that night. Anyone without _high class manners_ immediately digs in. Before eating, Kagome, Miroku, and Sango prey.

I watch as the people around me fill their hungry bellies. Beside me is Inuyasha and the princess on the other. At the head of the table is her father. I feel so uncomfortable just sitting here with nothing to do. Chatting goes all through the room but I am left quiet. There is nothing I have in common with these humans. The only people I would be able to socialize with would be Inuyasha and he is talking to Kagome who sits on his other side.

I observe their conversation, not really listening to their words. Things seem calm but there is a look in Kagome's eyes that I cannot read. It's nothing bad, the contrary actually, and I wish I could see if it appears in Inuyasha eyes as well. But he is facing away from me so I can't see any of his features.

The eyes belonging to Kagome flicker my way. I gaze back at her, my eyes shining with contentment instead of fright. She then looks down at my blank plate and covers Inuyasha's mouth, shutting him up from whatever he was saying.

"Tanaka," the whole room seems to go quiet at the mention of my name.

After I got bathed by the humans and groomed by them they don't seem as bad anymore. Through all the shaking the princess held my hand. Her strokes where gentle and reassuring. Princess Meehann stood by my side while the servants dressed me in the finest gown available. It was of multiple of colors and layers, was a little big, but passed over my skin like a stream of warm water.

The dress was loose long sleeves and the hem danced around my ankles, tickling them at times.

This is why when I answer Kagome my tone is actually cheerful and light. "Yes?"

The shock is frozen on her face for a short moment. Inuyasha, along with everyone else turns to me to continue. I throw them all a genuine smile. I'm not going to be mean to the humans here, since they've returned kindness, but I will not go near them— be alone with one. Princess Meehann is an exception though. She was there to comfort me when I was scared and she handled me perfectly with no showings of hostility.

"Um…" Kagome's seems to not know how to continue. "I was just wondering, why haven't you eaten any of the great food? It's delicious."

"Oh," the smile disappears from my face. I look down at my empty plate after seeing the regret pass through Kagome's eyes. "This just isn't what I eat."

"Tanaka," Princess Meehann sounds like the mother I've never known as she dabs her mouth with a napkin, her eyes apologetic. "Why did you not say so?"

I chew my lip before answering, twirling a piece of my now clean and glossy fiery chestnut hair. "You were just being so nice that I didn't want to be overbearing."

She waves her hand at the idea, "Nonsense. What would you like?" My eyes now turn to Shippo who sits on the other side of the table in Miroku's crossed lap. He's biting into a dumpling while also looking at me with uncertain eyes. I guess he has no idea how to put what I'm about to say in simple words either.

"Don't be chicken again, Tanaka." Inuyasha says with an edge in his voice. "You're being treated like royalty, tell them what you want and the servants will get it. That's what they're there for."

"Inuyasha," Kagome butts in.

She's ignored.

"I would like…" I face the compassionate princess again. "I would like a raw fish fresh from the river and brought to me."

"But Tanaka, I thought you told me that you hunted—" Shippo begins to say around his dissolving food.

I clench my teeth, "I know what I said," Though my words are clouded so it goes unknown whether he heard me clearly or not.

A few minutes later, my fish is brought in dripping. The servants go as fast as they can to dry it.

"Not completely," my voice is dazed. Already I am being taken under the spell of food. I'm not even sure when the last time it was that I ate. My mouth waters as I picture myself devouring the fish.

On my plate the fish is set. Instantly, my nails scrap against it until the skins begins to peel. I don't turn the fish over until I have stripped it to the bone. When in my hand, the scales start cooking themselves in a way so that my body can digest. No demon that I have encountered holds this power and I have also known that my ways of cooking are poisonous to others who eat it.

"What…" the princess stutters as she surveys my actions. "Whatever are you doing?"

Peeling and peeling and peeling. I do not stop to answer until it is just the skeleton of the fish left. The shell clatters against the bare plate. Everyone around shutters, even Inuyasha. I guess this is the first time that they have witnessed such a thing.

I hunch my shoulders and bow my head. No one talks to me or one another. And I think that this is the time where they turn on me. Where they have confirmed the tucked away thought of me being a monster. When they leave the room they'll go and grab the necessary weapons to kill me, plan it out, and then attack.

"I'm going to go…"

I don't wait for anyone to say anything, I just get up and run. And Inuyasha just lets me leave.

-x-

The princesses hands were nimble as she began a braid on my long waist length hair. And she tamed my bangs by combing them out until side swept. When finished she draped the long braid over my left shoulder. Princess Meehann was the one who fetched me once I ran from the table. I never saw Inuyasha or the others when I was brought back in, the princess said they all went to bed.

"Half—" Meehann cleared her throat. "I mean Tanaka, has you life been difficult?"

I mindlessly scratched my arm under my warming sleeve. "Pretty much, yes."

"What has made it so?" She lay down on her side but still faced me.

My eyes wondered to the window. The landscape blurred together as the tears gathered in my eyes. Not wanting the princess to see, I rubbed at my eyes as if I were exhausted— which I kind of was. "Well, not having parents is one."

"Oh?" A spark passes through her eyes and she sat up with new curiosity. "Whatever happened to them?"

I shrug, "I can't remember. My earliest memories are of Inuyasha and the short moment I spent with him. I worked countless years to find him. I went through hell and seemed to stay there until I found him here recently."

"Interesting, so this Inuyasha, he is a half-demon too, no?"

I clenched my teeth. "Must you ask something so obvious?" I don't care if she is a princess here; I'm not going to sit and take something so offensive. "You made it clear that when you saw us you knew we weren't human or demon but a little of both. Why do you ask again, princess?"

"Just making sure I had my facts straight is all." she said all to innocently.

I fall asleep before anything else could be asked of her.

-x-


	9. Hours Before the New Moon

-Sorry, I know that this isn't ten pages long, like I wanted it to be, but I'm having surgery done on my FINGER tomorrow: Monday, December 6. So I don't know when it will be when I post again. Hope to hear from some of you guys n gals. Oh, and if you see any mistakes please tell me. Thanks(:-

Tonight is the night of my vulnerability, Inuyasha's too. Tonight is when the new moon decides to emerge from the dark void above. Knowing this, Miroku insists we stay another night with the princess. Inuyasha, Kagome, and I refuse, (although I just think Kagome went along with us just because of Inuyasha) because Inuyasha held a promise in his words when he said we'd stay for only _a _night.

When Meehan heard of the news, Inuyasha looked as if he wanted to claw off her mouth. Nothing either one of us said could get her to quiet the questions she threw in our faces. Some of them neither of us knew the answers to. That didn't stop, or even slow down, her roll. When she was met with silence she shrugged it off and began on another.

What's her deal anyway? Why is she so eager to learn about the ways of my life? What it is that I want most. Who I love. What I hate. How I survive on nights of the new moon. Anything and everything. I just want space! Having her breathing down my neck adds all this unnecessary pressure that I should be used to. But I'm not. Her need for closeness is beginning to make me recede from her kind once more. I mean, are they all like this? Are they all cruel or clingy?

…Wait…

Is this… is this how Inuyasha feels about me? Is he getting annoyed that I'm always having to be around him, pretty much breathing the air that immediately comes from his throat? And if so, is he going to want me tossed out?

I perch myself on the edge of the riverside. I curve my fingers around my ankles and place my head between my knees, letting my hair fall over and ripple in the calm waves. I don't want to think about this. Any noise around, including my thoughts, are deafened by the rush of the brook. That is why I don't hear Kagome as she approaches until she pats my shoulder and I scream, causing her to yelp.

"I'm sorry," she instantly apologizes, looking the part too.

I snap my head back around to focus on the green fungus below the surface. Coolness from the water at the edges of my hair slip down my warm back. I shiver. The fish loop around one another, unaware of the bizarre shapes they are performing. I pick up a few pebbles and begin pitching them into the stream. "What do you want?" The fish are in a frenzy as the rocks keep plummeting down harder and harder.

Kagome watches me for a second. Her face is hesitant, lower lip quivering, and her eyes misty when I glance at her. "I want Inuyasha back."

I take my eyes away from the small droplets and narrow own eyes at the hollow human beside me. "What do you mean _you want him back_?""You stole him from me _Tanaka_!" Tears leap from her eyes.

"I didn't steal anything from you _Kagome_." My voice remains collected with a pinch of coldness. Which is surprising, sort of. I'm guessing she's in a state of despair. So I'm assuming that she won't harm me if I take on a more harsh tone.

"You did," Kagome spit's the words at me.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." The words I speak set blaze to her gaze. But before she can butt in, I continue. "It's strange how you seem to think that once you've connected to something you have some sort of ownership to it, Kagome. I can tell you this much, though, you own nothing of Inuyasha. If he wants to leave you for whatever, he's going to do it if that's what he wants. If he wants to have you hold him back then I guess that's the way it will be, right? And from what I know, you're not in a serious relationship with him so why on earth should his actions even affect you in any way?"

She says nothing and I think of something else to go on about. "I've seen that you've also placed beads around Inuyasha. What is he, a dog to you? Are the places that he could once go forbidden to him now since you can't follow?" _Like when he goes off to see Kikyo._

"No… it's not like that." her voice is small now with her eyes lowered. "When I first met him he was so vile. There was no way to control him so Kaede made the necklace."

"And when did you meet Inuyasha, Kagome?"

She shrugs, "months ago."

"Exactly!" I suddenly stand from my place and point an accusing finger at her. "What's the point in having him wear it now? He seems well _trained _from what I can tell. What are you afraid of? That he'll runaway from you? Or," I know I shouldn't be like this, wearing a devilish smile when I know this'll hurt her, "Or are you so terrified that he'll leave you for Kikyo?"

Kagome snaps her head up. I hear the popping of the bones from movement being so immediate. "How do you know about that?"

I dance gracefully around her form, teasingly grazing my fingers along the exposed skin of her neck. "Inuyasha has told me lots of things," I bend over to whisper the breeze of my voice into her ear. She shivers.

She's had enough. Her feet are practically springs as she shoots up and runs away.

I cock my head to the side as I watch her run. The wind tosses around my body. Dizziness consumes my emotions. The ground under my feet suddenly doesn't feel stable. It's spinning beneath my feet. I want to call out to Kagome for help because I know what's happening. It always happens the last hours before a new moon appears. But I don't say a word, knowing that I've upset her too much and she'll never go back for someone like me.


	10. Enter Pepper

*Whoo-ee! It feels like it has been forever since I have posted. I guess it kind of has though (: Anyway, a little ways before Christmas, Happy New Year to you all by the way, I posted this very same chapter. Only after I read through it on FF I saw so many errors and I drove me crazy— so I took it down. But now it's back and ready for reviews! If you see any errors, find something wrong, anything that needs changing, tell me please! Thanks, happy two-zero-double one (still getting used to writing that on my paper). Oh Har har, hope to here from you guys3*

The biting colds hit's the night air hard. It's spikey chains sharply scratching around my naked body. Every new moon I don't simply turn human; I grow out of my imp-like form and expand into a girl who is 5'1 (Five foot One). My hair turns blonde, almost transparent, and my skin a deadly pale. My mother was a Human Spirit. Human Spirits can call upon, control, conduct, can even take the form of, and speak to spirits— demon or human. And once she birthed me not only did her genetics follow but also her gifts. It is true that I am unlike any other but that is another painful story that I could never possiblly get. I lied to Meehann, my earilest memories were not of Inuyasha; but rather the trade my mother made.

I close my eyes, visualizing pure cloudy mist filling my body when inhaling. And mucky slim when exhaling. Draining the awful long ago thoughts and rejuvenating my sweet soul with Inuyasha.

When the hours before the moon arise and after I blossom, the previous clothes I wear tear because I can no longer fit them. Before all that I'll have a terrible seizure then lose consciousness. That's what happen right after Kagome took off. I had fallen into the river behind me and flowed downstream.

Struggling through the dark woods I tumble through now is incredibly difficult without the help of my demonic abilities. There are at least seven splinters in each foot, I'm sure, and counting. With each step I can feel blood surge out of the cuts on my toes. Thin twigs swipe at my cold, red cheeks. The wildlife noises around seem dimmed by my heavy breathing.

I'm scared.

…Inuyasha…

As I keep running,—looking for an opening that might lead me back to Princess Meehann's palace, to Inuyasha, but all turns look the same!— the woods around are becoming more lanky. A dirt road appears. Particles of the soil flutter into the air from halting my pace so quickly that my feet slide— more rocks slash into my flesh.

Sounds of neighing come from afar, along with jumbling items. Someone is shouting. When the picture of them is closer, the angry yelling faces turn complex as they squint in the dark trying to look at me. Closer and closer they come, until the horses sneeze and stop before me.

The man with the reins holds an overly astonished gaze. He's bald at the top but grey's at the sides. At his side is a much younger man in a glimmering fluffy white shirt, this older man's son maybe, apprentice? His hair is a bed-tossed black mess. And unlike his master, he has his eyes raking all over me.

The overbearing emotions are ten times worse in human form—they're so frail. The fear of them well up in my throat. I let out a puff of stained air and hunch my shoulders. Bending down, my body trembles. I'm about to tip over when an iron grip takes me by the shoulders.

I'm screaming. "No!" I have no idea who these humans are, if they're like Meehann and will treat me nicely. Or beat me to a bloodly, lifeless pulp.

"It's okay," it's the gentle gruff of the old man. Then he shouts, "Don't just stand there, get her some clothes!"

"R-right," His trainee stumbles over his tongue.

There's more racket from the back as the young male shifts things around. When he returns, a mismatch of clothes are thrown at me.

"You can manage to put these on yourself can't you, young lady?" The elderly man says.

"I wouldn't mind helping." The boy mutters.

I feel the deep red blush warming my face. I've never had someone speak so openly about something such as that, especially towards me. I wonder what Inuyasha might say… Widening in alarm, my eyes drop along with my head— my shimmering hair hiding the emotion that I portray next.

The man drags his son on the other side of their large wagon, asking another why in the world would a lady like myself be out naked, at night.

Slowly, I slide on the thin clothing given to me, thinking. It's my fault I'm here. If I hadn't gone by the river today I still would have been with Inuyasha. Or if I hadn't been so cruel to Kagome maybe she would have came back if I called her when I was falling. But no, I always have to be impulsive when dealing with those like the pass villagers I've encountered. I've gotten too comfortable around the humans with having Inuyasha around— protecting me from them if any were to attack. And now he's not here. So now what? Is it back to searching and barely able to keep myself alive?

At first with the old man, I had been scared. He had handled me with tenderness straight on though. His act reminded me of Meehann, how she has always been kind to me from the beginning.

I lift and bite the collar of the new loose shirt, needing it to keep from crying out. What if they knew the real me? The other me. The half demon me. Would I be treated the same, or be looked over with harsh words to follow as his sneezing horses vanished with them into the night?

"Finished?" The boy walks back around the wagon, eyeing me up and down.

I nod.

"Pepper," He comes to stand in front of me with his head cocked to the side.

I swallow, barely able to get the words from my lips. "What?"

His brows go into V formation in a what I can tell is frustration. "My name is Pepper."

"Okay…" Pepper's introduction wasn't something I was expecting. "Um… interesting name."

He shrugs, "so what are you doing out here? At night. Roaming. Naked? Were you attacked?" Pepper moves closer. "Robbed?" And closer. "Raped?" Uncomfortably close. "Looking for a nice stream to dip yourself in?"

He's right in my face. I cover my nose, "A-choo."

"Nice," Pepper smirks, eyes going lazy, and retreating to the back of the wagon while motioning me to follow. Uncertainly, I do with wobbly steps.

Pepper outstretches a hand for me to grab. I can feel myself warming up to him. The reminder of being human wipes the girlish smile from my lips, because this is only half of what I am. How would be respond to demon me? Noticing my action, Pepper frowns as he hauls me up. Once I'm by his side, though, he doesn't comment. Instead, his eyes go to my feet.

I wiggle my toes, feeling the splash of blood pooling around them.

"Oh, god," Pepper's face is twisted in a repulsed manner. "So you were stupid enough to run around with no shoes too?" Now his eyes meet mine, but he closes them and shakes his head too quickly for me to read the expression there. "Women of our time are getting wilder and wilder by the day, I swear." Pepper turns to shuffle inside the many barrels behind him. "I mean, a few days ago me and Pops were out hunting when we saw this woman bathing in a lagoon."

"Yes, that _is so _otherworldly." I say quietly with a breathy laugh, unable to know if I can joke around with him or not. _If anything you two Peeping Toms probably stayed to watch. _Is what I wanted to say.

"No," Pepper sniggers, as if he's read my mind. "She was by far the ugliest creature I have ever seen."

"That's mean."

He rolls his eyes, "Anyway, that's not the weird part. Every time a small animal would walk by they eventually strolled her way as if attracted. She'd stroke it with a smile and then begin washing herself with it. I remember later we found her dead. Some demon was feasting on her and we ran before it noticed that we were there."

I cringe by how fast the story dramatically changed. Pepper says no more about the topic. Instead, he walks over, jumps down, and sticks his head between my knees!

All the hairs on my neck and arms stand tall. Pepper seizes my hips, pulling me back on his shoulders. I squeal, frantically grabbing at all ends of his hair so that I won't fall back.

Again, I find myself blindingly going through the forest without knowing my exact location or really where I'm going. The only thing different is that I am now riding on some strangers back. His act of flipping me onto his shoulders was uncalled for and he began moving so rapidly that I had no time to react. Had I been demon, I most definitely would have caught the action and dodged out of the way. No. Scratch that. If I had been demon when I encountered Pepper and whoever that elderly man was to him, I probably would have laid low to aviod them entirely. The chance of me seeing them again were slim.

In minutes we're at a small pond. It is so quiet that you can hear the crickets singing. The fish flapping their tails in the water. Peppers low pants in attempt to catch his breath. I limp my way over to the edge of the small, shallow pool, now highly aware of the new pain starting in my feet and wincing at how much it hurts.

Pepper comes up steadily behind and takes and sit next to me. "Let me see your feet."

Rising my feet to place between his fingers, I can't help myself from laughing as he examines them from all sides. It tickles so much! Pepper, I see, is smiling.

"I'm going to wash your them before getting the splinters out." He tells me, looking up with friendly eyes. "Is that okay?"

With my smile fading, I nod. Pepper washes my foot as he said. Then he begins pealing away the layers of skin. I'm biting my lip to keep from screaming.

One glance at me seems to tells Pepper all. "By the way, I never asked what your name was." He says, I guess, to get my mind off the pain as he pinches my skin for a wooden prize.

I moan softly, the soreness of my foot aching from being struck in the same place over and over, "ask then." We're not even half way done and I already feel as if I might cry.

"Okay," Pepper's lips curl upward, not exactly a smile though. "Fine, lovely lady, do tell me your name."

I feel the slightest bit of blush appear on my face. Pepper gazes up to see my reaction with playfulness coating his eyes.

_Do _I tell him my name? No, _can _I tell him my name? After this will we ever see each other again for it to matter? Better yet, if I tell him will he somehow be able to track me down to find out who I really am? A half-breed?

"Tanaka," I blurt without any real thought about the outcomes.

"Tanaka?" Pepper rises his brows. "It's so… sexy."

My jaw drops and I know my face is lit up like a red flaming candle. I lift the foot he's working on and kick him in the water without fully realizing what I've done until I see him struggling in the water. It's too dark to see all the action but I feel the barrels of water splashing on me from the result. Can't he swim? Watching. Watching. And watching. I see he can't!

"I'm sorry," I start yanking at my hair, digging my throbbing heels into the damp dirt, but unable to tear my eyes away from the scene that I can hardly see. "I'm sorry. So sorry."

The long and puffy shirt of Pepper floats to the top of the surface. Its pure white shade illuminates from the glistening moon and diamond jewels. He's dead. I killed him. His Pops is going to murder me.

Just as I'm about to take off, a razor sharp, gapped open toothy mouth leaps from the water. Some unearthly noise is coming from it.

I'm screaming. And screaming. And thrashing on the ground after it pins me into the muddy soil.

"Ta…na…ka!" They say through coughs.

"What… what do you want?" The words coming from me are barely comprehendible.

I kick at where the chest of whatever it is should be. Their thrown back and writhing on the ground, like a piece of wheat crumpling in after being lit on fire. I'm scrambling to my feet when my ankle's grabbed.

"It's Pepper, Tanaka!" He yells, raspy voice echoing.

I sharply turn around on my back, elbows propped behind me with my neck raised up to see if it's really him. It is. His light violet eyes shining with confusion and anger both.

He crawls his way up beside me. Face to face. Hot breath against hot breath. Nose on nose. Our eyes board into each others and I feel the full effect of his unwavering emotions. It's truly frightening.

"What the… why did you do that?" Surprisingly he's not shouting— as I expected. Instead it's a hoarse murmur. "Why are you crying? Why were you screaming?" Pepper searches my eyes for answers when I don't respond— or even react to the sound of his voice. Seeing this, he straightens into a sit and pulls me into his lap. At first I am stiff. Eventually, I loosen and begin to sob.

"Tell me." Pepper sighs, almost sounding annoyed.

"Why were your teeth like that?" I motion with my hands. Joining the heels of my them and clapping the fronts like a mouth. "They were like om-nom-nom-nom! And you were making the freakiest noise. What was that? I thought you were the demon trying to eat me like that dead women you saw!"

"Sweet Jesus, are you serious?" Pepper's turned me to where are faces are so close together that I can feel his lips lightly grazing mine. "I was choking!"

I shake my head, putting it facing down. That is not at all how it sounded. Oddly enough, he throws his head back to laugh, hugging my rigid body.

I find none of this funny.

"Okay," He pulls me back by my shoulders when he sees I'm not following along, a new lightness shinning in his eyes. "Everything's okay. Now what do you say about me finishing up your feet?"

"…I say," I utter so quickly that Pepper leans in to put his forehead to mine.

He smirks. "Yes?"

"I say that you need to put your shirt back on." The words come quick on my tongue.

He pulls away, wagging his eyebrows, "Distracting?" _A little…._

But I can't say that out loud. He's human. I have not forgotten. A kind I'm supposed to despise. Plus, he doesn't know. So it's not fair. He could hate the other half of me. A side he's never seen.

_Half-breed._

_It's not right to get all comfy around someone who could have a monster hidden within them._

Pepper goes on with my feeting. And, now that I am thinking about what I just thought only seconds before. Who was I directing that to? Pepper? Or me?


	11. Different Strokes

*Pats myself on the back* You know why? Because I typed not ten, but ELEVEN pages. I did it. I did it. I did it. Yeah, I did it. It's so amazingly wonderful, I know. Ha, ha, no I'm just kidding. But I am proud of myself. I love what I have written and I really, really, hope that you do too. And I pray that I get more reviews and Pms. You guys are so incredible that I almost pee on myself when I finish a chapter— because it's hard to wait to read what you're going to say. ^_^ You guys are really sweet, and I hope to hear from you soon. This is a really big chapter so I need your support to know that I'm not the only one who likes what I've wrote. -I can be so blind to small mistakes- Thanks(:

Oh, wait! I think about in the middle of the chapter, maybe I'm not sure, it goes to Kagome's POV twice. I know that when I read a story I hate it when it does that to much *Like in the later books of the House of Night series, that I don't read anymore for a number of reasons, that being one* so I'll try not to do that too often. Okay, now go on and read, sorry...

' T A N A K A '

I can't even look at Pepper. He has taken me miles away from the area we were in, when he had no right. That's kidnap! What am I going to do? Yeah, in a few days I will turn back into my demon-self, unlike normal half-demons, but then where will we be? And even if I feel like I will die if this wagon goes around one more time on its squeaky wheels, I have to stay. If I jump off this cart in a hasty search, death will surely come quick and I will definitely never find my way back to Inuyasha.

"You hate me," Pepper says in a candid voice, "don't you, Tanaka?"

"No," I snap, "I'm just going to kiss you and say everything's fine."

It's when I see the spark ignite his eyes that I jump over all the junk here in the back of the cart and smack it right out of his features.

Pepper says nothing, only rising his hand. I flinch and my body tenses. Is he going to hit me?

To my relief, he puts it to his reddening cheek. I sigh, releasing the breath I had no idea I was holding. His fire is thankfully out and I have to make a mental note to never make a move like that again. What am I doing saying stuff like that anyway? Never in my life have I _spoken _words that relate to kissing. So why with him? If anyone, it should have been with Inuyasha. On top of that, I'm I have to remind myself that I hate Pepper. I know hardly a thing about him, so there is no reason for me to like him. For all I should care, he can go get himself eaten by the demon him and his pops saw while hunting.

I throw my feet off the edge of the wagon and put my head in my hands. I just can't believe this is happening. Why? Just after I had finally found him, Inuyasha's gone.

"So…" Pepper hesitates and I hear him gulp nervously. "When do you plan on leaving?"

I lift my head to rest my chin against my palms. "I was hoping you'd take me back, but since you asked that doesn't seem like it's going to happen." I glance back to confirm my idea but get nothing. Good enough. "Fine, I'll end up leaving in a couple of days."

"Why not now?"

"I have my reasons." I pause. "I'll up and leave when you're sleeping or distracted, so don't bother yourself by watching after me. Disappeared without a trace, as they say, and it'll be as if I was never there at all. And you'll forget."

"That's not true!" Pepper suddenly fires back. I turn myself to gaze at him with vague eyes. "Proof that you were here will remain. Like the clothes you took."

I shrug.

It's several hours before Pepper speaks again. But I do not want to speak. I want to sleep my humans days away and return to my demon form. I reluctantly talk anyway, though, or else he'll bug me to death until I do. I'll give my last gasp of air, lean against the side of the wagon, he'll take it as a sound of defeat, and talk to my dead corpse.

Pepper wants to know about the people I "live" with. To be honest, they are all strangers to me just as much as he is. Of course that isn't something I'm about to say. I tell him they are okay people, except for one—Inuyasha— who is very dear to me; and that we travel a lot like him and his father. This leads to Pepper wondering if that are merchants like him and his pops, new information I learn, but I say no. Which has him asking why we travel. So I tell him it's not his business and he should quit being nosey.

Coming to sit at my side, but keeping a safe distance in case I lash out at him again, which won't happened because I'm too afraid that either him or his pops will strike back, he speaks, "Why are you being so mysterious? You won't tell a thing about you other than your name."

"How big is the chance of us meeting again?" I trigger back another question.

"Ant size, but still—"

I shake my head in a feverish movement. "But still nothing! I want you to no as close to nothing about me!"

Pepper is taken back. By the way his eyes enlarge and his lips slightly part, I see he's hurt. "Why would you want that? I've helped you live by giving you clothes to keep you from freezing. This morning I gave you six dumplings so you wouldn't starve. I even woke up in the middle of the night to hold you so you wouldn't be scared. So why would you—"

"You what?" I exclaim, quickly standing to hover over him with an extremely skeptical look coating my face.

"You heard what I said!" Pepper stands to meet me in my face.

His closeness makes my stomach knot so tightly; I feel that I might vomit, but I hold my ground, praying that he doesn't clobber me.

"Why the hell did you do something like that?" I demand to know with my voice strong and eyes determined.

"What was I supposed to do? You were thrashing around, shaking, screaming, and clawing at whatever you got your hands on. That is not the kind of lullaby I like to listen to when I'm asleep."

My throat is suddenly dry. "What…" I gulp, then continue to whisper. "What was I screaming about?"

"Killing someone named Kagome. How it's her fault."

"What is?"

"Everything."

I sit back down, dazed. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Pepper remains standing, now the leader of this conversation. "A demon called Inuyasha."

I fiddle with my fingers, giving myself a reason to not look him in the eyes. "Is that so bad? To want someone who makes you feel safe and secure; who understands everything that makes you, you?"

Pepper crosses his arms, eyes narrowed, and with his voice unwavering, answers, "No, there's nothing wrong with _that_. Killing someone to get to that someone, that is what's wrong. Sick and twisted even."

"I wasn't about to kill Kagome!" Leaping off the cart, I take long, hard strides just to keep up with it. Doing this will hopefully burn off the steam bubbling over my better senses, because right now Pepper's face is the perfect fist rest for my left hand.

"How would you know? Do you even remember your dream?" I shake my head slightly, not wanting to admit to anything. "Then shut up, you don't know what your intensions were." Landing with a dull thud, Pepper follows up behind me. We're traveling in a speed walk for a short moment, probably allowing me to extinguish my dark flames before he asks, "do you journey alongside with demons, with this Kagome person?" "One…" I think it over again, "Two," If I include myself, "and yes. Problem?"

"Well," Pepper blinks in surprise. "Well, yeah, are they…_tamed?_"

"_Tamed?_" I snarl, eyes blazing. "what hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Uh," His mouth hangs, "Not what you think."

"Oh, is that right? God, you sound just like Kagome!"

The moment she saw me, she was scared. She thought I needed to be "dealt with"— my phrase for it anyway. That is why she put this cured necklace on me. To keep me _tamed. _

Pepper is teasing me. "No, not Kagome. The one you wanted to murder?" Both him and I are losing our tempers.

I know that screaming never gets you closer to a solution, but he is so irritating. Plus, he has proven that he clearly hates demons. Hates me.

"It's not like she doesn't want me gone too! Why do you think I'm here now? Pepper, she let me fall into a river and didn't even try to help me!"

"Then that's different." His voice is softer, understanding what went down. Well, what kind of went down; and he tries to lay an arm around me in comfort. "Not kill worthy different, but different."

I swiftly move out of his reach, hugging my own self. What I just said is such a lie. But who am I to care? It's obvious that even if I had called to her she wouldn't have came back anyway… right? If she had been the one to say what words I did I wouldn't have went back for myself either.

Still, how do you not here someone falling into a river? I know she would've had to hear the heavy droplet of my body, turned around, and saw that I was gone. What else could have happened? Unless… she… unless she though I dashed through the river with my insanely fast demonic powers and just assumed I ran away. What if that is what she really thought and that is what she told Inuyasha? And what if he thought that I just got tired of him and ran off? All the hope he had in me probably vanished the moment the words were spoken and he begin to alter back to his life without Tanaka. I was not with him long, less than two weeks, how long would it take for him to adjust back?

"But I…" The thought comes to me like a slap. A good kind. From the corner of my eye I can see Pepper raising his brows. He's speaking about something. Something I can't yet pay attention to. The idea of what stretches to mind is so overwhelming because Inuyasha would have to come looking for me then. "I have the Jewel Shards!" Surely he'll desperately want what is rightfully his. And he must continue to let me travel alongside him in a case like mine.

I'm twirling. Hoping. Flipping. Running. Ignoring the blood that is seeping through my new foot bandages. And so overly happy again. I just have to wait. Wait for Inuyasha to track my scent; and I curse myself for not remembering, or sniffing, his.

In an instant, the surroundings tumble— I'm falling. The hard ground comes first at my chest. I gasp —caught off guard— and look back to see what my foot is propped up on.

"You tripped me!" I accuse, quickly standing to brush myself off.

"You weren't listening to me," Pepper says back.

"So you trip people? What if your old man doesn't even bother to look at you, do you make him fall too? Breaking his hip in the process?" Again, his arms are crossed. Eyes like hawks. Toe tapping, flying dirt into the air. And brows in V formation. "Well?"

"You mentioned something about you having the Jewel Shards. Now if I'm right, are they the Shikon Jewels? Or just a girly item for this girly Inuyasha guy?"

"Enough!" I stomp my feet to shut him up.

His lips slightly curve upward.

"Pepper, you have no right to talk about Inuyasha, someone you don't even know."

"Yeah, I know."

"Then shut it!" I snap. "I don't have to tell you a thing about the Jewels and what connection they have to me."

"Yes, you do."

"Why is that?" "Do you know how many demons are out looking for those things? Every. Single. One." _Not every one. I didn't want the one's I have now in the first place. _"You having them will attract all kinds of monsters," _Demons you mean. _"You'll put all of us in danger!"

"I will not." I stand from the dusty earth. "Do _you _know what could happen if these fell into the wrong hands? What would you do if countless people were hurt because of a stupid action you made me take?"

"No, I'd be stupid to _ask _you to _throw them away_," _as if you could do something like that. _"The chance that you'd even listen to me are poor."

"So what are you going to do, Big Man?"

Pepper's face faintly flushes with color. But he waves the feeling off with a shake of his head. "It's either, you somehow get rid of those cursed ornaments or—"

I challenge him with my eyes. "Or what?" Just give me a threat and I'll decide how funny it is.

"Or you can leave right now and me and Pops will continue on without you."

"Then I'll just keeping following alongside of your wagon until what I need to happen is complete."

"Like what?"

"Doesn't matter… to you."

"Fine. It won't be hard to just up and leave when you're sleeping or _distracted_, disappeared without a trace, and it'll be as if we were never there at all. And you'll forget."

Pepper uses my own words against me in a shorter sentence. But I don't think I'd forget someone ditching me.

When Pepper sees that I have nothing to say, he turns to his Papa.

"Hey, Pops, can—"

Pepper stops. In my peripheral vision, he is stiff as stone. With his mouth hanging wide open and his head is going back and forth, back and forth.

"What is your problem?" I spin on my heels.

Taking in the scene, I see what's wrong. The wagon is gone. The horses. Pepper's pops. The wagon. Everything. Disappeared without a trace. Now how did that get passed us? Were we too involved in bickering to take notice? Guess so.

It's Pepper's turn to be upset. He buries his face in his hands. "Not again, not again," is what I hear him murmuring.

"So this has happened before?" I immediately blurt without thinking about it.

Pepper nods, a tear escaping from the cracks of his fingers. To the ground, he drops like a rock. Not that I really thought about it, but I've never been able to picture him crying like a small boy. The way his body rocks with suffering is painful to see.

I walk over to him in an unsure way, squat down next to him, and I'm about to put an arm around him like he wanted to do for me, when he lunges. Again, I find myself squirming on the ground with Pepper as he locks his arms around my neck and sobs in the croak of where it and my shoulder meet.

My brain is very aware of every inch of his body pressed against mine. But I try to ignore that. Kick it from my mind. Tell my heart it's okay because it's not Inuyasha. And I just pat his back as he continues to bawl.

Seriously, what has his father done to him to cause him to react this way? Abandonment by your parent, I guess that in itself is hard to handle. I would know. My mom pretty much did the same to me.

Although, I don't blame her for a second. She did what she thought was best for the both of us at the time. What can I do? There's no way that even if I could that I would go back in time to change things. If that were ever an option I'd turn it down. That choice lead me to the trail of baby Inuyasha.

It's mid-afternoon when I wake. The feel of Pepper's body still tingles along my form, but I know he is not there. When I open my eyes, he is about ten feet away in a lonely field. I also see that his eyes are completely drained when I approach. It's an awful sight to see. Especially when I've known him to be a smart-alecky, cocky little adolescent. From the looks of things it doesn't seem that his father is coming back. I feel so terrible. Only because I know the feeling. Not because I like him.

"Come on," I outstretch my hand for him to take. I'm going to do my best to put him in a good mood. "Let's get going."

He studies my gesture for a long moment. "What gives?" He speaks with a monotone. Totally out of character.

I cock my head to the side, "What do you mean?"

"Yesterday you acted like a freak who hated me," _Freak, _the word bothers me. I dread to know what I'd be called if he knew I was not all I _looked _to be. "Why the sudden change in heart?"

"I'm trying to help your depressed butt, that's what I'm doing." I bark, placing my hands on my hips. "Now, if you don't want someone there for you then I'll go ahead and leave you stranded here too." Harsh. Harsh. Harsh. Don't care. Care. Care.

Disbelief briefly crosses his eyes. "I don't want anything." He tries to hide it.

"Then what _did _you want when you threw yourself at me last _night_?"

"A comfy pillow." He blushes lightly.

"Yeah, okay." I open my hand to him again. "Take it or left it."

Pepper takes it. "Where to?"

"What do you mean," I loosen the rim of my pants, not loving the way it sticks to me. "Where else but straight ahead?"

"What if he turned around?"

"Fine," Taking all of my clothes off at once, I stretch out all of my limbs, loving the way the breeze drifts through every curve of my body. "We'll head the way we came."

"T-t-tanka!" Pepper scrambles backward as I throw the clothes I borrowed back at him. "Have you lost your mind? What do you think you're doing?"

I glance at him with a devilish grin, "I just thought you might need some cheering up." I clutch the hand that's not bundled with his clothes into both of mine and take off in the direction of what I hope leads to Inuyasha.

We've ran for three hours straight. I don't know how Pepper did it, and he refuses to tell me, hurt shining within his eyes and I know instantly it has something to do with his dad, but he did. I'm impressed. The sun is only an hour or so away from setting and we lay on a hill in the grass, resting.

Pepper has been unwilling to even look in my eyes, for they usually begin to wonder elsewhere. But I only laugh. Being nude is nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean, he knows every girl _should _have the same parts as all the others. Just because he doesn't know what they look like or is not used to seeing them, doesn't mean its not there. Then again, in the smallest way it does make me feel a little uncomfortable. Being human means crushing waves of emotions. Like embarrassment, something Pepper himself shows often. Anger, something we both create almost every time we speak to another. And depression, the very thing that is slowly creeping up on Pepper this very moment.

"Please," he begs, squeezing his eyes closed. "Put the clothes back on. Why do you have to be like that?"

"No way, it feels good." It's true. "Plus, when you are running it makes you go faster. Without all the air resistance holding you back you wouldn't believe what all you can do."

No joke. No comment. No nothing. Pepper keeps his mouth closed. What's wrong with him? I shake my head, not caring enough to ask. I've got more important stuff to think about anyway. Like what exactly am I going to do in the next few days? In that little time I'm going to turn back into my demon self. He's not going to want to be around something he wants to kill— well, not kill but deeply despises. And I can't just leave him in the middle of nowhere like his father. The human flesh eating demon could show up and devour every last bit of him.

Too many hours to count go by as Pepper and I take up a steady jog. He must be extremely fit. I know we've been at it for five hours— possibly more. I wonder how he does it. In my years of searching I always found myself running. Either for the fun of it or because I was being chased. That's my guess on how I can go for so long.

It's when the moon's directly above our heads that Pepper and I turn in for the night. We settle in the tall branches of the tree and fall asleep.

' K a g o m e '

It's been about three days since Tanaka took off. Inuyasha has tried countless times to track her scent, but it always ends at the river of our argument. It's waters must be washing away her smells. The more times I'm asked about what happened that moment and after it the memory gets more hazy. Making Inuyasha even more infuriated with me. Making me feel all the more worthless.

It's like the moment Tanaka left, everything behind her died. No one other than Sango and Shippo will even talk. And Miroku's too busy "warding off the evil" Inuyasha might bring with his constant physical and verbal lashing out. Whether it's taking down trees or barking at one of us, no pun intended, if you're in a hearing radius of that it will not be a happy day.

It is dinnertime and we are all gathered at the table. Without Tanaka there's hardly any kind of conversation going on. No one made a sound. All the trees paused. The near by river frozen. And the construction going on is muted.

I bring up the courage to be the first to speak, "Inuyasha, this is wrong." _So very wrong._

He glances reluctantly into my eyes, a piece of fish hanging from his mouth. "What?" His tone is artic. Clearly he blames me for everything that has happened.

"It's just that…" I gulp loudly, barely getting it down, and fiddling with my fingers in my lap. "Ever since Tanaka showed up in our lives you've changed into a completely different person." I'm not meaning to yell but I can't help it. All this has been bottled up inside my head for days. It's driving me insane! "Inuyasha," The words keep coming, "I don't know who you are anymore. Every spec of the day is all about finding Tanaka." And coming. "Your focus isn't even on finding the Shards anymore." And coming. "I want it to go back the way it used to be. It's obvious that she's not coming back—"

"Damn it Kagome, if you don't shut up I'm going to lose my mind!" He yells through gritted teeth, voice almost sounding strained. "Unless you have forgotten," He stands to tower over my head with bubbling fury, "The Shards have been fused inside Tanaka. And I don't think we need to remind everyone who's fault that is." Inuyasha takes his seat, calming in the slightest as he picks his food back up. "Anyway, I know Tanaka didn't run away. Do you really think after all this time that she's been looking for me that she would all of a sudden leave?" Now instead of being upset, Inuyasha sounds totally full of himself! Like someone as 'wonderful' as he doesn't deserve to be ditched like that. God, that is it!

"Hey, now you two," Sango says warily, she knows exactly where this is headed.

"No," I shake my head back and forth, my mind tumbling with jumbling thoughts swirling everywhere. "Inuyasha SIT!"

Over and over, I keep repeating the phrase. He _is _accusing me of everything that has happened to Tanaka when she completely took those actions on her own. She chose to run away I didn't make her. But apparently Inuyasha thinks our dispute caused her to _disappear_.

"Enough!" The princess's father shouts. "Do you prefer sleeping in the wild? I'll have no problem throwing you out if you're going to destroy my home."

"No, your Lordship," Comes Miroku, being humble as always.

Without another word to us, the princess gets up to leave with her father, who bids us all a goodnight. Although there will be nothing good about this night. Not while Tanaka is gone. Even Princess Meehann has had a nasty temper. With no one to direct her questions to besides Inuyasha, who's always out looking for Tanaka, about half-demons she's been as sour as ever. Sango's flying on Kilala trying to see if she can spot Tanaka from below. Miroku is forever gone, performing exorcisms for all the paranoid villagers. Shippo is the only one who is able to stay.

I'd like to believe that it's because he wants to stay to make me _feel _better; but I _know _better. Shippo is only at my side because he's so young and tiny to do anything.

It's the next morning when Shippo and I take a seat on the edge of the villages well. There's a soft breeze, a mix of vegetables fusing in the airs scent. The day is nice with the warming sun heating my skin. I wish it this feeling could be everlasting.

"Come on, Kagome," he says, tugging on my skirt. "You have to cheer up. Why is it that you can't like Tanaka?"

"The question is why does Inuyasha care so much for her." I snap and I sigh, seeing that I've made him flinch. "I'm sorry, Shippo. It's just that Tanaka wasn't even here that long and already she has grown on Inuyasha. Had that been me when we first met he would have let me go." I shake my head, feeling the tears stream down my cheeks. "He just doesn't understand what this is doing to me."

"You have to think about it though, Kagome. Inuyasha was a completely different person than he is now. From the little that I know, he's had a rough past right?" I nod. "Tanaka has too, and I think that's why he cares so much. Both of them can relate to each other. They can tell each other most of us wouldn't be able to understand or imagine."

"Okay, I get it."

"Where are you going?"

_I don't know. _I just get up and walk. What does Inuyasha have to say that he can't tell me that I wouldn't understand?

' T A N A K A '

"You're making us stop while you take a bath?" Pepper questions me. "May I ask why?"

"I don't want to stink." Inuyasha wouldn't want a smelly girl. "You should take one when I'm done."

I take a peek at him, waiting for a sexual joke. I'm waiting and waiting but nothing comes. He continues to stare his way through the thin woods to the dirt road we were traveling on. Pepper leans against a giant tree with his arms crossed. Just thinking.

Sighing, I begin my wash, careful not to get my feet bandages wet because they are now the only ones I have. I'm sitting down on the soft earth, scrubbing my legs, when Pepper speaks, "I meant to ask you this earlier."

"What?"

"If you wanted to be nude then why do you still wear that necklace?"

I freeze. Like the warm, inviting water has suddenly turned icy. "It's… it's to… uh," I'm stuttering over my words. How am I going to put this? "It's to keep me bound to someone." What did I go and say that for?

Pepper looks straight ahead, about to look me in the eye when they stroll elsewhere and he looks away. "Inuyasha?"

_Yeah, I wish. _"No… Kagome." Might as well keep going.

"Why?" His forehead creases in confusion. "If anything she should have put it on those two demons you travel along with."

I don't say anything. What am I supposed to say to that? Do I admit to what I am?

The widening eyes of Pepper are laid on me like a hot smack in the face. I guess that answers my question. He races to my side, getting over his embarrassment of me being naked. He touches my cheeks. My eyes. Hair. Looks down at my body. Twist my necklace between his fingers before he trying to take it off. The jewelry shrieks and Pepper falls back into the water.

"H-how?" now he's stammering. "Tanaka you look human. How is that possible?"

Tears are burning behind my eyes. "It's a long and hard story."

"It's been a long and hard few days." I've never seen his eyes full of so much fury. "You've been lying to me, I think I deserve an answer."

"I haven't lied about anything because I haven't told you anything."

"You told me you had Jewel Shards."

"I do!"

"Then where are you keeping them?"

"Kagome, she… she—"

"Is there even a Kagome or an Inuyasha? Or were you lying about that too?"

"No, I wasn't!"

"You know what? This is insane. _You _are insane."

I shake my head, because that is all I can do.

' K A G O M E '

Princess Meehann and I have stayed up late with each other. Both of us have been waiting for Inuyasha all night, but for very different reasons. She wants an update. I simply just want to see the sight of him. Remember how he used to act. With him gone all the time it almost makes me wish we were back in time and he was searching for Kikyo. That's got to be a new low, right?

Seriously, because what am I upset for? I… I love Inuyasha? Yes. I do. I do love him. Tanaka may too but she's so small. Not Shippo small, but five year old child small. There's no possible way for there to be any romantic relationship to go on. So what am I _really _depressed about?

That he's not going to me for things that trouble him? As Shippo has said. That his attention has a new spotlight? Tanaka. That I can't relate to his past problems? Growing up and being half of what you were constantly around— humans while everyone sees you as an outcast. That were not the same things? A half-demon and me a human.

Finally the door slides open, revealing his silver hair glimmering in the moon light.

"Inuyasha!" I leap from my sit, thrilled to have him back. Though he looks none to happy. The big smile on my face vanishes.

I hate Tanaka. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her. Because of her Inuyasha is suffering. Hurting. He's locked himself away and won't let anyone help. Or tell us what's wrong. I wish she was dead.

Tears stack themselves up against my eyes. "What's wrong?" My tone is defeated, broken. Do you see Tanaka? Do you see what you have done to him? I grab at Inuyasha shirt, shaking him. "Tell me!"

Gently, he takes my hands, the first sign of affection he's shown me in awhile, but then I feel the smooth silk of fabric. I hear Princess Meehann gasp. I refuse to look as she rubs it between her fingers.

"Is this…" she swallows, "this is from the gown I gave her isn't it."

Inuyasha closes his eyes, forehead creased with sorrow, and he nods. "I found it washed up on the riverbank."

"That means she must've fell in." She adds, Inuyasha nodding again. "But, then, does that mean…"

Oh, god, no Meehann don't say it! I didn't mean it! I take it back.

"Does that mean she has passed on?"

"No!" I blurt, shaking my head so roughly that it might just fall off. "She can't. She's not dead!" It's not that I actually like her but what would that do to Inuyasha if what I wished for was true?

"How would you know?" His tone is saying it all, that her existence here is fading from his mind. "We don't even know where she is."

"She's got the Shards though."

"All the more reason she should be dead."

I blink. Open shut open shut. "How can you say that?"

"The faster you accept it, the easier it becomes."

"So that's it? You're just going to give up on looking for her?"

Inuyasha shrugs, "We'll be leaving tomorrow. Unless something of her turns up, then yeah, everything will be like it was before." I try to hard to block the misery in every way it's shown on his features.

Wrapping my arms around Inuyasha, I tell him all will be okay. Tomorrow will be great with or without our gone-too-soon companion. Although I can't help myself from burying my face in his chest and smiling.

_Unless something of her turns up, then yeah, everything will be like it was before._

Inuyasha, I'm counting on your words.


	12. Shooting a Star

:Y

. . . .

I'm not sure about this chapter. I didn't like typing it, I got bored really easily and gave up on it several times. I'm hoping that it doesn't show when you read it. If it does, let me know because I'm pretty much brain dead on what to do after this—well, I have ideas I just got to figure out how I'm going to place them in the story— and I'll have nothing else to do but try to fix it. I just woke up from a way too long nap so that I could finish up the ending so if something is messed up there I am sorry. I'm going to try and fix all the errors I've made in past chapters, so yeah, just thought I'd let you know(: Please, continue to read and review, sorry if I sound like a sourpuss, I'm not trying to. I'm just… cranky, I guess. x(

I love you guys, proceed to read.

. . . .

I can't think straight. I can't sleep right. I cannot eat human food without throwing up. Whether it's walking, jogging, or running, I can do none of those activities without tripping. It's true to say that I am a complete and total wreck. The cause of this wreckage can be pointed at Pepper, because he is one nasty bully when you've pushed him too far. I regret fully on everything I have told him.

Anything I say is usually backfired by him. Even when I'm not talking, he'll sometimes make spiteful jokes just for kicks. Times like these can be hard, you know? Having your self-esteem go further down by the minute is not enjoyable. It pokes at my barely conscious mind as I'm praying silently to my papa.

He was someone great in his days, said my mama when she still existed in my life. She said he somehow sensed when I was in actual danger, my papa, and when he came to my rescue his physical form was always different. Once he came as a monkey, then it was a dragon, then a bear, a fish, and so on— he came in whatever fitted the scene. When the battle was quickly over between him and my attacker he'd take me in his arms, said he loved me, before evaporating into the sky and joining the clouds. So much for father-daughter bonding.

It is official. Pepper has ruined the teeny sprout of trust I was growing for humans. He was the first to show any kind of sanity towards me (Meehann doesn't count because of the fact that she was only nice to feed answers to her curiosity). How quickly his kind can have a drastic change in heart and suddenly turn against you, is terrifying. I've always known they were very unpredictable but one has never grown on me to flip-flop around to stab me in the back.

I pick up my pace, seeing that I am far behind the devils trail, but fail as the ground reaches for my face. Another wave of nausea arrives and waterfalls to the earth in a thick, sick mess. Number six. I've hardly ate a thing this morning; so what is this disgusting muck that's sliding through the dirt?

At this rate, what will be left of me by the end of the day? A lifeless shell on the outer surface?

Pepper shakes his head, "Pathetic," I hear him say as he draws near. "What happened to all your strength, Tanaka? Was it all for show? Or were you using the power of the imaginary Jewel Shards to keep going?"

I shake my head, staggering to even put one foot in front of the other, when I'm scooped right off my feet. The surroundings mix in the swift movement and I feel as if I might be sick again.

Is he going to throw me off a cliff? "What are you doing?" I manage to wheeze between my congested lungs. Or is he actually being nice?

"Though I still can't stand the sight of you, I'm not about to leave you behind." What happen to his big mean attitude?

"I-I'm sorry."

Where Pepper grips under my thighs and arms to keep me in his grasp, it tightens. "Unless you can take back my pops ever stopping to help you then I don't want to hear those cruel words again."

Cruel? How are they cruel? Pepper you're the one chucking every piece of food you _have _in your mouth without saving a bite for me. You're the one stealing the little morsels of food I manage to _find _and shove them in your own unsatisfied belly. _You are_ the one who trips me on purpose when I have finally and successfully handled a steady and balanced tempo when walking. Who doesn't bother to offer me any kind of clothing in these frigid nights. Who reminds me everyday that I'm hated because of what my kind does to the world— maybe not in those exact words but he tiptoes around the point he clearly tries to make. That is cruel. And that is something I very much want to state out loud.

But no, I can only _wish _to say that. And the only thing holding me back is the fact that all of my energy is drained and I am just thankful that he has taken it upon himself to carry me like the unfit gentlemen he is. For the time being, I have to let my guard down. I can't be afraid. I just can't.

I know that this abuse goes entirely against how I feel about humans in general. I know that I should be fleeing like normal because I _don't _have to take this. I know the forest and what it sprouts from its roots— food wise. But does Pepper? I've grown emotionally attached to the old him, whether I'll admit it aloud or not, but if I have to be honest with someone it _has _to be with me. And if I left him to die, not only will that come back to haunt me but what will his pops do? Yeah, he left him like some pet gone wild but that does not mean he doesn't love him. Right? I guess. I don't know.

"We are going to die," Is what I think of to say.

"Who's fault is that?" Here it comes, in a merciless tone with hatful feelings attached. "If your demon ass would have stayed away from us humans, like most of you with the little sense you come with, we wouldn't be here. Would we?"

I'm taking that as a rhetorical question. What do I say in response? Is he right? Is this really my fault and not Kagome's? The look on Peppers face when I glance up at him is full of regret. It _is _all me. When Kagome ran away from our argument scene I'm sure I was the last person on her mind. She was probably too busy dealing with all the conflicting emotions going on in her mind to think twice about anything directed my way.

Nightfall approaches quickly. With me dipping in and out of sleep, the sun was always positioned in a different spot each time I woke. These hours of darkness are the same as the previous ones, icy. These are the times when I desperately want to beg Pepper for clothing that I know won't be given to me. Already, as I look now, he is bundling them together to make himself a pillow.

"You're a demon. You won't be needing these, right?" Pepper wiggles around one last time to get comfy before settling down to sleep.

I quietly sigh and curl up into the tightest ball I can manage and try to sleep that way. The little heat I am able to conserve is fading instantly.

It is maybe the middle of the night when I slowly creep my eyes open again. One of Peppers borrowed shirts lay on top of me. I close my eyes, sending a silent thanks to him, before completely wrapping it around me and sitting up to look at the dark velvet sky.

Unexpectedly, there is a star shooting its way across the heavens. Wow! My hands fly to my mouth as I gasp, so giddy all of a sudden because of the fact that this is my first time seeing one. I would shake Pepper awake, but I don't. For one, when I glimpse at him with excited eyes I see he is already conscious. Two, because there's no telling what he'd do if I even so much as poke him. And three, most of me is scared of him.

He gazes back and sees all the happiness flowing through my emotions. In the smallest way, he softens around the edges but his forehead crinkles in confusion. "I didn't think a shooting star moved like that." His attention on the sky once again.

I follow his pointing finger and see what he means. The ball of light flies up and down and side to side. It repeats this several times— almost seeming as if it's not at all a star but some glowing figure dodging something completely imaginary to our eyes. Though, if it's not a star then what is it?

_Whoosh! _The air flies by in one rapid whip. It sends my long hair in a frenzy while also blocking my view.

"Tanaka, watch out!"

_Bang!_

Suddenly, I am airborne. Here, I am weightless. For a moment, all my worries are carried by the breeze. The chill of the wind freezes my body of feeling. It makes me wonder if this is what it's like when you die. Are you just a tiny, relaxed molecule going wherever you're taken by Mather Nature? If I'm destined to never to see Inuyasha again is this what I want? Death?

The yank of my arm being caught in someone's grasp spins me back to how things really are. I am not dead. Yet.

"Gotcha!" The all too familiar voice says as the haul me onto something warm and soft.

I open my eyes, realizing they were sealed shut, to find myself engulfed in a fury of swirling flames. The blaze pulls me to the past of that horrible burning building. Replaying the scene of the bloody chest fountain. Turning up the volume on the innocent child who cries for his mama. And almost shattering my mind by forcing me to listen to the evil laugh of the revolting demon who caused the mayhem.

I close my eyes against it all.

"Ma'am," the kind voice says with urgency. "God, you're bleeding out too much." Pause. "But you're going to be okay, I promise." Another gap. "Where is Kagome?"

"Kagome?" I cringe at the name, my hands immediately balling in to fists and the cold air loops through my fingers.

Now, my eyes open wide, seeing the stars retreat farther, my body feeling the arctic rush— I'm falling.

Something slimy, snakelike, wraps around me. Thorns inject themselves into my supple skin. The adrenaline begins to flow through my bloodstream. I feel woozy as they turn me sideways and they pull me away from the fleeing Pepper, who is dashing along the swaying grass.

He's running to four figures I can barely make out from my droopy eyes.

I gasp, "Inuyasha!"

_Inuyasha. Inuyasha. Yasha. Yasha..._

The syllables of his name echo around the forest. He glances up at me when Pepper points my way. Even though I can hardly see, I do make out that his face twists in confusion. Does he not know who I am?

"Inu—" I'm trying to tell him that it's me, Tanaka, when I'm squeezed by the tentacle holding me hostage and my blood rains down like a gruesome storm.

Pepper's lips read my name. Inuyasha's eyes go insanely wide and he instantly orders for Kagome to take charge. She shakes her head slowly while keeping her disbelieving eyes on me. Wait, is that disbelief or craziness that is flickering in and out of her eyes? Readying her arrow, she arranges it in her bow.

_Hit the mark. _She mouths and lets the arrow fly.

I'm gone, the lose of blood taking its toll on me. The last thing I remember seeing is something like a shooting star is supposed to look like, soaring right for my face.


	13. Sleep my Pretty

Finally! I have another chapter up. Sorry it took awhile but I had to take a break to catch up on my reading. Ah, have you just ever read something (a book) and when you were finished you thought that you'd never find something better? 'Cause that is exactly how I am feeling right now. If you have any must-read book recommendations I'll be more than happy to share mine too(:

Proceed to read:

By time morning came the rain was coming down in a soft pitter-patter on top of the roof. The thunder that I always found a tad scary pounded through the room and the headache pulsed painfully in my skull.

I grip my ears while fighting to see clearly through the distortion of my vision, an effect I always get when I've been in a deep slumber for too long. As I sit upright, the thick covers falling to my hips, I try concentrating on the simplest of things: like the dirt under my nails, the new forming split ends of my chestnut hair, or looking at the goose bumps developing along my scratched arms from the large gusts of wind coming through an open window.

I want to get up and leave but my limbs are stiff; I lay back down. Things begin to settle outside and so I relax a bit.

It's strange at how I instantly know where I am. Here, back in Princess Meehann's room. Objects I never noticed before are seen by me once my sight becomes steadier.

Lots of floor to ceiling mirrors fit neatly in the walls. Small glass bottles of makeup sit on a fine and very large wooden vanity table with a white powdered cushion stool underneath. Bulky turquoise trunks, sparkling in gold pixie like dust, line against different areas of the room. A private area for changing, that looks like the paper of a folding fan, rests in the far corner. Small rugs dot the floor and impressive paintings give color to the room.

Then, it catches my eye for the second time. I squint its way, making sure that I'm not being tricked by my mind, but no, there is no way of denying it. The thick grey liquid that sways from the rattling thunder and sparkles from the flashing lightening tells me that this is the same fluid I saw the first day I was here. Again, I wonder, _what on earth could that be? _It's clear that when I pointed it out before that Meehann didn't want me to know, or wonder, about anything having to do with it. So if it is dangerous why does she have it in her chambers? Such power shouldn't be in her hands any more than it should in mine— maybe even Inuyasha…

There's no time to think about it as the door slowly slides open. A face that I can only halfway see peeks through the small crack and smiles brightly at what they find inside. Of course, it is no one other than Meehann. Great. What could she want? _Like I don't know…_

She's here to badger me with questions! _Oh, please, just leave. _Is what I want to say.

Princess Meehann steps in to sit next to me. "Feeling any better?"

I nod; the dryness in my throat gives me a speck of pain near the back. Talking around it may request a sore throat. Or at least that will me my excuse for not wanting to speak.

"You are silent, are you sure you are well? Do I need to send someone for Kagome so that she can bandage you up again? Or have her tend to your other wounds?"

I flinch at the sound of her name. _Kagome._ I can still see the burning brightness of her powerful arrow. Even though I can't remember a thing after that, I remember how she looked before she made her shot. She knew what she was doing. A sense of over imagined determination gave her away through the eyes. I'm not dumb. She does want to get rid of me... but we'll see who fades away first.

"Tanaka," Princess Meehann strokes my cheek. I lean into her touch, loving the warm feeling that she is giving off. Though, when she was holding my hand that first day I felt nothing like this. What's changed since then? "That boy, Pepper, says that he traveled with you. Is that true? Can you remember?"

My eyes snap open, growing droopy with exhaustion. _Pepper_. The mention of his name brings me back to his coldness. To why I should fear and loathe the very sight of every creature like him, but Meehann will simply not allow it. It's hot and forceful as it flows through my system. I can't take action in bolting from this room. The energy surges through me, I feel it molding in every curve of my body. Filling my fingers, toes, and spreading farther into my stomach. Moving has become impossible. Is this the Meehann's doing?

I glance up at her with completely petrified eyes, yet she smiles. It's as warm as ever, genuine as a princess's smile should be. So why does it set a searing blaze in the pit of my belly?

"He is my nephew," I guess I can see that through their piercing violet eyes and coal black hair. "So I know that you were taken care of, right?"

I give no answer. The building pressure in my body loosens in the slightest and I am able to speak for a short second, "Well—" The protest is clear and the energy bottles back up in my system. I am no longer able to talk.

"Never mind, I know he was compassionate in his own childish way."

The warning sirens are ringing for me to run. Inuyasha, where are you?

Meehann caringly runs her hands through my smooth hair. I shiver. "Why don't you sleep awhile longer, huh?" She says ever so tunefully. "Because Tanaka you're looking pale and shaking."

This isn't right. My body shows it agrees by allowing one small tear to dribble down my cheek.

"Don't cry," the princess attempts to soothe the storm raging on in my mind. "Everything's," Her voice… it's so snakelike when hissing on the _S,_ "Going to be all right. Now sleep."

If I were in control I wouldn't have obeyed her command.


	14. To a Safer Time

;] It has been almost a month since I last updated. Sorry guys, it's not going to be like that from now on, at least I hope, because I've gotten back into the story. I've read possibly ten or so books since my last post and I'm just hoping my writing's gotten better- that's why it's taken me so long to get back to it. Well, with that I hope after you read this you'll still enjoy it [; Thank ya !

I burst from the suffocating coverlet in a cold sweat. Whatever nightmare that had been chasing me seconds ago quickly fled from the bright reality I woke to.

Steadying my breathing before standing, I realized that I felt so much better. The rush of my last memories came in a swift flash. Although I could still feel my blood drumming—no, boiling— freely in my veins, I left the room. There was no time to rest when the space belongs to someone who could possibly be dangerous. I have to warn Inuyasha before something terrible happens to us.

At that thought I quickened my pace as I rounded the corner. When I'm sure that I've covered more than enough of the palace, I know something's up. Where is everyone? Last time, servants are endlessly scurrying around somewhere. Or I could hear the higher rank workers yelling at trainees. Or at least some sort of construction going on. But no, there is nothing but a small breeze in the noises of the air.

Coming to what I think is kitchen; I leap out an open window and scan the place.

It's drained of people.

I walk over to a large Oak tree in the nearby garden and begin to climb. My limbs move so nimbly that I don't have to look at my small body to know it transformed over my slumber. Once I am close enough to reach the branches, I jump on each one before finally reaching the top. There, I graze the surroundings.

I see dozens of people in the corner gates of the palace gathered round. All of them hunched over something that goes unseen by me—to many of them standing in my view. I squint my eyes and lean in, as if doing so will help me see through their weak bodies.

"Hey, Tanaka!" Some voice high and childlike calls from below.

Glancing in the direction, Shippo is down there, waving his arms and jumping happily in the air. And I'm not sure why but his presence brings a huge smile to my face.

I wave back meekly and spring from the high tree, forgetting about the group of servants, to land with ease back on the ground. When he sees my unclothed body Shippo's face goes lobster red, covers his mouth, and averts his eyes— but not before they linger a second too long on my many bruises. I see him shaking in the slightest way.

"Shippo," I say in a mystified tone. "It's okay, I'm not embarrassed. There is no need for you to be scared."

"But I am!" he cries. "Put some cloths on!"

I look over the fabric-less place and put my hands on my hips. "What exactly am I to put on?" There's nothing here on this side of the palace but grass and pretty flowers. Wearing either of those will surely irritate my hypersensitive skin.

"Hey, Shippo, who's that you're—" The voice stops once I turn my head to see Inuyasha and his gang.

With my eyes igniting with blissful energy and my body suddenly keyed up, I lunge at him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, we twirl from the force of my body crashing against his. I rub my nose against Inuyasha's, back and forth back and forth. The tears in my eyes can't help but spill over with great relief but I refuse to close them. What if I blinked and he disappeared and this was all a dream?

I squeeze the shoulders of his kimono. "Inuyasha," I whisper while beaming at him nonetheless.

He blinks his eyes at me for a second before scrunching up his face. "Where the hell are you clothes?"

I suppress my smile by pursing my lips together. "That's not important."

"You'll come to know that Tanaka, for some strange reason, hates anything covering her body." Peppers voice rings in the air.

An almost silent growl slips from between my lips. No one takes notice. Or at least doesn't say anything of it.

"When we were traveling during those long days, men would pass by and see the beautiful Tanaka and began throwing money at her, hooting like wild animals. How else would we have survived? Without it we wouldn't have been able to _buy_ food."

You know, I was ready to blush at the fact that he called me something that wasn't a synonym to the word monster. But the reddening of my face quickly tuned to one of fury, "Liar!" We searched for our food, there were no huts around for us to _buy_ and munch off their goods.

Pepper shakes his head, "If only they knew what dreadful thing lay beneath."

"What's that supposed to mean," I challenge, eyes on fire.

"Oh, nothing."

Sango sighed once Pepper stalked away from hearing range. "If only he knew how dreadful he was to have around." The gang all made noises of approval.

"He's just mad at me." I lower my voice. I look to the sky, trying to find my Papa's hopeful face in a cloud.

Inuyasha looks too, wanting to see what I do. "Why, what'd you do to him?"

I repeat all the scenes from my memory up until this minute, leaving out the close, embarrassing moments with Pepper.

As a response, Inuyasha's head whipped around toward the monk.

"That proof enough for ya Miroku?" he snapped.

The monk rubbed his chin, saying how that is troublesome.

"I'm telling you," I said, "She isn't to be trusted. Meehann—"

Inuyasha put a hand to the top of my head. "We heard you the first time, shut up."

"Inuyasha…"

He shook his head. "This isn't going to work. You have to go."

My breath caught in my throat. I have to go? What? Why? Where? After I just found you once again, Inuyasha you want me to leave? Doesn't seeing me bring… bring you happiness, relief, a sense of self… anything? Now that I think about it, do I mean anything to you at all? You've obviously forgotten me over the years so why would I think I'd mean something?

I release my air filled cheeks with a deep sigh and loosen the grip I have on Inuyasha to slide back to the ground. "If this is how you want it to be, then I'll go." If I'm making Inuyasha unhappy by hanging around it's not going to be too thrilling to know I'm the reason for it.

I've made only two footprints in the dirt before I'm roughly grabbed by a chunk of my hair. I'm spun around and faced with Inuyasha just inches from my face. His sudden closeness drives a heavy flush of red to my face. I hold my breath, waiting.

"Do you think I'm about to let you leave," This part of his sentence fills me with such hope, "with my shards?"

It's in one ear and out the other. The roar of a waterfall fills all sound. Honestly, what was I expecting— for him to confess his undying love for me?

"_Oh, Tanaka," he'd say._

"_Yes, Inuyasha?" my hands would clasp together in his as we held them close to our faces. Both of our eyes would stare passionately into the other's and we'd stand there as the heavenly background and beautiful dancing flowers replaced the world around us._

"_Forget the shards, let's run." _

"_But where would we go?" My eyes would gaze up in an unsure manner._

"_Any place that would make you say the words 'I do'."_

My face would light up, "Oh, Inuyasha, I'll say it right here! I do, I do, I do! I swear I will."

"Well, I'm glad I was proved wrong. I thought she would have taken that crossly." With that the monk smiles as he turns to trail after two passing maids. Sango, with an agitated glare, follows after him. The steam is almost too easy to point out with it raging from her ears and nose like that.

I scratch my aching head in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"Wow, Tanaka," Shippo hops on Inuyasha's shoulder, it seems like he just appeared from thin air. "I really thought you hated Kagome."

I scowled at the mention of her name. "I do."

"Well, until we can settle things down around here, you've just agreed to spend to rest of the time in Kagome's time."

"I DID WHAT?" What does he mean by that?

"It's the safest place."

"Neither Naraku, Meehan, nor Pepper, can touch you there." Inuyasha elaborates, causing the fumes in me to bust, but he covers my mouth to keep the hot air from spilling out. "You swore. Are you going to lie to me?"

Oh. My. God! How manipulating is that? "B-b-but I didn't—" He knows I'm not going to.

"Unless you want to tell us what was really on your mind just now." Shippo… small, sweet, gentle, Shippo puts on the most wicked/taunting grin I have ever seen someone so cute wear.

I shake my head in a fast swishing motion that drains the color from my face.

"Then pack up whatever you'll need and let's get going."

When I turn to face the bright sun behind me, Kagome is there, outlined in its glory. Her eyes are determined slits, body held firm with one hand holding a death grip on the yellow backpack she carries, and with the wind blowing her hair, she looks… well, amazingly strong willed and... powerful. And not the over looked kind, like when a new "law" is issued and everyone follows but doesn't really care for whoever was responsible for making it, but the kind that should be feared and quickly acknowledged.

I nod my head; stumbling over my feet to grab the plastic bag of clothes she has waiting for me there. When I've got them on, I give Inuyasha one last lingering hug before I pursue after Kagome. He pats my head and sends me off with the faintest smile on his lips.

I wave at him as the forest we enter begins to swallow him up. The tears are streaming heavily down my face.


	15. It Shocks Me

Hoo-ra! I got another chapter up! I'm glad it didn't take as long as I thought. Now that I have at least some sort of direction to where this tale is going I'm able to write easier(: I love it, it's fun! I've got a few more twists and turns and complications and wrap ups before the story ends): I have lots of other "fics" that I've been working on that I think are pretty good, so when this is over, check them out when their posted, please?

:]Anyway, thanks for even reading this one. Review too, they help pump my motivation.

-By the way, if you have a story you want me to read I'll be happy to give you my opinion on it too.

I quietly wait outside Kagome's classroom, retying the blue striped bandanna for the fourth time before placing the white cap, with its pretty navy ribbon attached, back on my head. Her mom decided that since the dark blue and white sailor's fuku uniform was cute and came with its own hat that it was a perfect way to hide my ears and help me blend in. She was right. Everyone pretty much over looked me. Kagome said it was because I looked like an ordinary schoolgirl.

But I wasn't like everyone else and it always seemed like people knew it too. Even when I know they probably forget me the moment I leave their sight, it was still hard to know that I didn't fit in. The fact that I had already been here half a week made it no easier to try and make a friend, it makes me queasy to wonder what would happen if they knew what I really was. What—

"Excuse me," I jump at the sudden sound of a voice. "Young girl, shouldn't you be in school? Is something the matter?" The man had silver square glasses and a clipboard in hand. "Do you have a sibling in there that I need to pull out of class for you to talk with?" he licked his finger to flip through the numerous papers in front of him. "I have the teacher's class student roster, name of sibling please."

I cocked my head to the side, "a what?" _Roster? _That wasn't on one of Kagome's vocabulary word list that I needed to know. "You mean a _rooster_?"

The teacher's mouth twitched. "I have no time for games, little girl. Either you're here for an emergency or I need to phone your parents and tell them that you've skipped class to tour the high school." His eyes revealed that he knew which he was about to have to do.

"No," I shake my head slowly, but kept my eyes trained on him. What do I say, what do I say? I open my mouth, ready to blurt the first thing that comes to mind, when there's an earsplitting ring.

As the teacher looks over his shoulder to glance at the flashing red light above his head, I bolt down the hall while covering my ears. What is this, some sort of magic? Was this the teachers doing? Did he set that off to get me to leave? Well, whatever it is, it has me rounding every possible corner I can find, but no matter where I go the shriek continues to chase me.

"Students and staff," a somewhat frantic voice called from somewhere above. "Please evacuate the school. The alarm has been activated. This is _not _a drill, I repeat, this is _not _a drill. Teachers, remove your students immediately from the building."

Drill? Kagome never told me anything about this either. It wasn't in any of the teachings she'd given me after leaving from _high school_— that was what her and the man earlier had called it.

As I kept going, I was surprised to find myself in a fit of coughs. There was smoke in the air.

"Kagome!" I called out, hearing my voice bounce back at me. There was no way she was going to hear me over the blaring overhead.

In hast, the halls were filled with people. I was tossed and turned in the crowd of wild wolves until I was eventually knocked to the floor. The heavy feet of the high schooler's trampled on my backside and I cried out several times. What did they think they were stepping on?

Time went by. The corridors cleared. I was left in the thick haze of smoke. The growing flare of flames caught my eye. They were crawling out from an open door almost brunt off its hinges.

My body began to tremble, "fire."

It was happening all over again. But the flames were bigger, more furious. I stood on aching bones, deciding to just run. Going anywhere would be better than lying in place and waiting for someone to find me. When the peeling hall walls split and could go two different ways, I took the one with the least amount of fog polluting it. Soon I then found myself at a dead end without any idea of where to turn next.

I was on the second floor. That I knew. I have no time to waste.

Taking a step forward, it all became too much to take in. I had to put my hands on my knees and gasp for the little air that was left. There was absolutely no time to dwell on the past, but I kept finding myself stuck and froze on Nachi.

The overwhelming acrid smell of smoke immediately swept me back to that sweltering home. An innocent murder was made that night. An evil, demon was responsible. Was she the one who started that fire? Is it possible that she could be here now, trying to kill more humans? Or is it me that she's after— trying to draw me out so that she can put her slimy hands around my neck for a good squeeze?

Maybe in those dark hours of that day Nachi had meant to kill both Inuyasha and his mother. Once I came along she only achieved one of those goals. Was it possible that I could be the reason she set fire here to get back at me?

A moment ago, the smoke had been thin, manageable and able to see through, but now it filled the empty spaces of every corner. I couldn't even see a foot in front of myself.

I hadn't realized that I'd crumpled to the ground until I began to instinctively climb my way up the wall, and then I felt it— the cool slippery texture of glass.

_I'm saved! _Fresh air was only inches away. If only I had the strength left to—

The chime of a million high pitched birds sounded almost louder than the alarm. I was thrown back with such a force that I don't think even Inuyasha would have seen it coming.

My body became instantly soaked in water.

With a loud crack, my skull connected to the wall behind me. The sharp edges of the window scrapped against my face, the cool sprinkle of rain splattered my cheeks, and the roar of a waterfall came through the now broken glass.

What nightmare has Inuyasha sent me to? If he thought I was safe here, he was wrong. Obviously he hasn't been in Kagome's time long enough to know that this place could very well be as dangerous as our own. The moment I am back on "safe" ground I'm leaving this hellhole.

For the longest minute, my head throbbed in rhythm with the racing beat of my heart. My body began to tingle all over and I was yet again at the face of death. Would it be this time around that the flames would engulf me? Or would I have to be terrorized some more before I was turned to ash?

In the faraway distance, I could hear faint, husky calls of men. The pounding in my head seemed to block out any verbal communication that tried to enter my ears.

I closed my eyes and attempted to clear my mind.

"What's the situation?" someone asked.

"A teacher reported a small girl in the building shortly before the fire started thirty minutes ago." —no way, has it really been that long? — "He hasn't spotted her outside yet so we're in here looking for her. He described her as an incredibly undersized, mature six or seven year old, possibly eight, in a navy blue and white sailor's uniform." Another person responded.

"Got it."

"And if you see anyone else along the way, inform the rest of us and get them out of here."

Loud thumps echoed in the passageway. Strong, unfamiliar arms of a man scooped me in their grip. Something breezy and cold circled my lips, and I felt the pour of clean air race down my throat. I gagged, but held firm as to not let it slip away.

It wasn't long until I heard the wrath of the outside world. There were people screaming. Cameras were flashing. Sirens were buzzing.

Somewhere in the far recess of my brain, I knew the afternoon was hot, but I felt bathed in a cold sweat. Which I guess is strange considering I just came out of a blazing fire.

"You're okay now," I glimpse upward to see a firefighter say when I cried out.

The mask around my mouth fogged up as I gave a strained exhale.

"Let me through!" she hollered. "Tanaka!"

_Kagome. _I gaze over to the sound of her voice. She was struggling with two police officers that were holding her back by the arms. "Let me see that girl." I told the man carrying me.

He nodded, setting me on a bed and leaving me with a woman to strap me down. I protested the moment the air mask left my face, but she soon replaced it with another that was hooked to a bunch of different machines.

"Oh, Tanaka," Kagome was in tears when she raced to my side.

"Kagome?" Was that really her? Was she really crying over me, or had the flames she easily escaped from cause her eyes to water up? "You are so stupid. What are you doing here?"

"I saw… these really pretty fish that flashed in the sun while they swam." I coughed violently and the women began rolling me away. "And I wanted to know if you'd take me to see them. Will you?"

Kagome, whose eyes told me she almost couldn't believe what she heard, nodded.

"Just worry about getting better, okay?" She gulped, as if the words she were about to say would be tough. "Inuyasha's going to want you alive. If he sees that you've died, what will that do to him?" _How would that make me look? _is what her sentenced might have ended as had we not been in such an intense predicament.

I gazed at her through my droopy, disbelieving eyes. She said that?

I tried to say something more, but the dancing black dots before my eyes stopped me.

I gave up and went to _sleep_.


	16. Stay Awake

Sigh… there are not very many more _We're Connected _chapters left before it ends. And this is just a short piece of writing until the "climax" I guess you would call it comes in (next chapter). Then after this, I have to finish typing out the whole thing before I post again just so I can make sure I haven't left anything out! Half of it's done already and I have the ending in mind— maybe an idea for a little sequel, but I dunno —so please don't abandon my story and continue with the messages and reviews. Thank you(: Please, if you spot any mistakes let me know.

The night was late and I was exhausted, so incredibly so that my eyelids felt like sandbags. I rubbed my burning eyes with my fists, ran cold water from the kitchen faucet, and slashed some on my face. I had to force myself to stay conscious for my own sake. Her mom picked up the phone when Kagome called and said that she'd be here shortly and that she needed me to stay awake. News from Inuyasha was my instant thought and my only motivation for listening to her.

That day of the fire at Kagome's school had me hospitalized in a terrifying hospital. Not only was I surrounded by crying newborn monsters but I was also being treated by their supreme leaders (adult humans). Although Kagome had been with me the whole time, attempting to calm me down when they put an IV in my arm, she had been the last person I wanted comfort from. After all, there had been a point in time were she had tried to take my life— it was not too long ago actually.

The day Kagome's grandpa convinced them I was ready to be released (because they were getting suspicious about why I wasn't suffering the way I should considering how long I had been inhaling the smoke); I made a run for the well. Nothing like those weak fumes can get me down for long.

And as I raced up the multiple stone cracked stairs leading to their home, I looked at the small shrine in horror. Hundreds of small Sutra rectangle papers were plastered onto its wooden frame. I couldn't tell whether they would disintegrate my entire body or slid to the pavement in their falsity if I poked them. Either way though, I wasn't about to take my chances and reluctantly slid in Kagome's warm bed for a long nap.

That nap ended earlier this afternoon and Kagome was already at school. I did nothing this entire day but lounge in the sun, awaiting her return— or at least for something exciting to happen. Until evening hung over the Earth, my stomach finally growled and I teased the cat while Kagome's mother ran to the market for a fresh fish (or as fresh as they get here). After I ate, her mom received a call from her daughter and here I am now.

I snap my head up and away from the cool, fogged up window. I drowsily blinked a few times to gaze around a blurry, empty kitchen. With the moonlight streaming in like some ghostly spotlight, the place was kind of scary. I was thankful when I saw the high school uniformed teen stroll in the room.

"What took you so long?" I tried to sound accusing, but it was distorted by the heavy sleep that was threatening to take over.

Kagome looked away and frowned, "it's only eighty-thirty." Like I knew what that meant. She rolled her eyes and lifted the brown paper bags ruffling in her grasp. "I was out buying some things for you."

"Why?" My head dipped toward the ground. I awkwardly caught myself on all fours and rose to lean against the cabinets.

"Well," her hands set down her supplies. "I've seen how hard it must be for you here. How you're isolating yourself from everyone, except me pretty much, and it reminds me a lot of how Inuyasha acts around here." She shrugged, taking out a fluffy lamb. "Although there's nothing really I do can help Inuyasha feel more welcome. Unlike him, you seem to be more attracted to things I know little kids would like." Kagome held out the fat, over stuffed animal to me.

I wish I could say that the mere sight of that made me sick. Especially since it was made and given from someone of the human race, but I couldn't. It was so silky with its curly, honey fur. Its hooves, belly, nose, and inside of ears, were a rich sunburned brown. I stared at its black button eyes and the cute, curvy mouth: ᴥ with widening eyes.

"I love it," I said before I had time to stop myself and hugged it.

"Good," Kagome shuffled through the other sacks until she came up with a carton of milk. "Hey, one of my friends at school got me a welcome back present. Would you mind opening it for me so I can see what it is?" She continued to busy herself by putting up objects in the cupboards.

"Uh, sure?" I set my new lamb friend on the counter and hopped onto the table to unlatch Kagome's bag.

It's really strange how normal we're both acting. Aren't we supposed to hate each other because of our relationship with Inuyasha? Isn't that my main reason for not taking a liking to her? Aside from that and the time of her sense to get rid of me, did I like Kagome somewhere deep down?

I shook my head. The answer is absolutely not. I hate her because of what she is. It was people like her who despised me for the same reason that I can't stand her kind.

Seeing the box, I snatch it out of the pack. It slips from my grip and loudly thuds on the table. The noise grants me a wary look from Kagome, but I only scowl at her and rip the paper from her present. Who on Earth would ever give her anything, the little—?

I stare. Kagome comes to look over my shoulder with a weird, yet gentle smile on her face, "for you, Tanaka."

Inside the box, it flashes in the moon's light as the wrapped plastic it's in swishes from side to side. The fish frantically swims about, "Aw," I lightly cradle it in my palm. "I didn't mean to scare you." The fish relaxes after a bit and I bite my lip. "Thank you… Kagome."

"Your welcome," she walks away with the empty grocery bags in hand. "But you better get to sleep."

"Why's that?" It's not like I'm tired anymore.

"My mom and I left this afternoon to enroll you in a day camp. I know you must be lonely here without anyone to talk to so you can consider this a favor. My little brother, Souta, will be there to help you out if you need it."

"Wait," I caught her by the sleeve just before she could leave the room. "What are you talking about; won't you guys be in school?"

"Our break started today after school." She smiled a smile that was fit for her twisted face. "Let's see how well you get along with bratty _humans_ your age appearance."

I wanna kill her. Had it not been for my new toy and pretty fish and her scary mom, I might I have sliced her into teeny pieces and someone would be wondering why the toilet was clogged up the next morning.

I am not, I repeat, am _not _going to that camp.


End file.
